Incumbents ousted in primary

HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER John J. DeSimone was ousted by a narrow margin in Tuesday's primary. / COURTESY R.I. GENERAL ASSEMBLY
HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER John J. DeSimone was ousted by a narrow margin in Tuesday's primary. / COURTESY R.I. GENERAL ASSEMBLY

PROVIDENCE – John J. DeSimone was ousted from his position as R.I. House Majority Leader, the most powerful incumbent to lose his primary race Tuesday.
According to election results posted on ri.gov, DeSimone lost his seat by 17 votes to fellow Democrat Marcia Ranglin-Vassell, 660 to 677.
DeSimone, D-Providence, was one of six incumbent General Assembly members defeated in the low-turnout primary, with many of them being long-tenured veterans, according to initial results from the R.I. Board of Elections cited by WPRI-TV Channel 12.
Election results showed that state Rep. Thomas A. Palangio, D-Providence, was defeated by 21 votes by Moira Jayne Walsh, 278 to 299. State Sen. Juan Pichardo, D-Providence, lost to Ana B. Quezada, 1,060 to 1,157.
Other defeated incumbents were state Rep. Jan Malik, D-Warren, who lost to Jason Knight, 672 to 865; state Rep. Eileen Naughton, D-Warwick, who lost to Camille F. Vella-Wilkinson, 469 to 542; and state Sen. William Walaska, D-Warwick, who lost to Jeanine Calkin, 1,015 to 1,090.
The Rhode Island Progressive Democrats endorsed four of the candidates who ousted incumbents: Ranglin-Vassell, Walsh, Knight and Calkin.

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