State legislative contests are scarce this year. But what they lack in number, they make up for in intrigue. From family feuds to a flurry of accusations over election interference, there’s a lot to learn in the 18 legislative primaries – all Democratic – that will be decided Tuesday.
House District 9: Campaign conflicts overshadow policy views
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A cast of characters headline the three-way Democratic primary for House District 9, which has been awash in accusations over election interference, alleged ethics violations and character defamation. The mudslinging between incumbent Enrique Sanchez, and his two challengers, former seatholder Anastacia Williams and Santos Javier, has sucked attention and news coverage away from bread-and-butter issues like education and housing, which are especially crucial to the district spanning parts of south Providence and downtown.
Yet there appears to be little policy separation between at least two of them, based on their responses to a questionnaire sent to their campaigns by Rhode Island Current. Both Sanchez, a 27-year-old food delivery driver, and Javier, a 46-year-old single parent who touts his professional experience in banking and small business lending, want to make school breakfasts and lunches free for all students, regardless of income, and to tax millionaires at a higher rate. Williams, who works for the city of Providence, did not respond, but was known during her 30 years in office – she was ousted by Sanchez in the 2022 primary – for her outspoken manner and social justice focus.
Despite shared viewpoints on certain policies, the three rivals can’t seem to agree on who, if anyone, is tampering with voters’ mail ballots, nor other accusations over stolen campaign signs, voter suppression, and missing information on state ethics forms. Despite accusations and complaints flying among all three candidates, answers are scarce, with reviews by various state agencies and law enforcement ongoing.
House District 16: Politics behind the scenes?
The beef between incumbent Rep. Brandon C. Potter is not with his primary opponent, Joseph Graziano, but with Senate President Dominick Ruggerio. As first reported by The Boston Globe, Potter, a two-term representative, thinks Ruggerio recruited Graziano to run against him as retaliation over legislative disputes, including Ruggerio’s 2023 bill to allow for iGaming at Rhode Island’s casinos. The legislation passed, but not without detractors, Potter among them.
Ruggerio denied these allegations, and has not donated to either candidate’s campaign, according to state campaign finance reports. House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi gave $1,000 to Potter in April.
In his four years in office, Potter has made headlines for novel progressive legislative proposals like decriminalizing personal use of “magic mushrooms,” alongside staple reform priorities such as payday lending reform and caps on annual rental increases. Potter named overturning Gov. Daniel J. McKee’s veto of legislation meant to ease workforce problems within nursing homes as one of his top priorities if reelected.
Graziano, a first-time candidate who works as a public information specialist for the R.I. Department of State, appears more moderate in his viewpoints based on answers to the Rhode Island Current candidate survey. He suggested a study commission to explore whether the state should tax millionaires at a higher rate – a tax which Potter backs fully — and pointed to Second Amendment rights when answering a question about an assault weapons ban. Both proposals have been shot down by legislative leaders, including Ruggerio, in prior years.
House District 42: Family history and an offside challenge
Family ties – and disputes – abound in the Democratic primary for House District 42, covering parts of Johnston and Cranston, which replicates the same three-way rematch from two years ago. Rep. Ed Cardillo Jr. who first won office in 2020, will again battle his nephew, Dennis Cardillo Jr., along with challenger Kelsey Coletta, the daughter of Tiverton Rep. Jay Edwards.
The 2022 primary race between the family members grew heated, with the elder Cardillo hiring a private investigator to prove his claim that his nephew was lying about his home address, according to news reports. The younger Cardillo shot back with his own accusation, claiming his uncle’s allegations were racially motivated – his wife is Latina. The 2024 primary reprise between the two Cardillos has been markedly quieter.
But the bigger threat to the incumbent legislator may be Coletta, who lost by 83 votes in the 2022 primary. Coletta, a licensed clinical social worker, champions progressive ideals around health care reform and minimum wage increases on her website. She did not return the Rhode Island Current candidate questionnaire, nor did Dennis Cardillo Jr., who also does not appear to have a website. In his response, Rep. Cardillo also gave a nod to left-leaning priorities like universal pre-K and student loan forgiveness, albeit specifically for those in the medical field, according to his responses on the Rhode Island Current. However, Cardillo, who received a $1,000 campaign donation from Shekarchi in May, also maintained a more moderate position on gun safety legislation, saying he opposed an assault weapons ban.
The Democratic primary winner will face off against Republican Richard Fascia in the general election.
Senate District 20: A crossroads at the Cumberland-Woonsocket line
Three Democrats are vying to fill the open seat left by longtime state legislator Roger Picard, who in April announced his decision not to seek reelection after more than three decades in office [including the House and Senate]. The trio of candidates for the district straddling the Cumberland-Woonsocket line includes two familiar names in local government: Woonsocket Councilman Brian Thompson and Denis Collins, who serves on the Cumberland School Committee. Another Cumberland resident, Marian Juskuv, is also vying for the seat, though Juskuv has maintained a low public profile, and declined to respond to Rhode Island Current’s questionnaire.
By contrast, Thompson has been an active campaigner and participant in media interviews since launching his campaign a day after Picard said he wouldn’t run again. The 43-year-old foreman has served one term on the Woonsocket City Council, during which he butted heads with former Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt, who resigned in November amid ongoing scrutiny over a controversial city land deal. Thompson, whose platform centers on economic development and education, has received campaign donations from Picard and Ruggerio, among other state lawmakers, according to state campaign finance reports.
Picard also donated to Collins’ campaign. The 46-year-old Taunton High School history teacher, who served four years on Cumberland School Committee, touts himself as the only candidate in the race to support an assault weapons ban, according to his responses to Rhode Island Current’s questionnaire. He also backed a higher tax on state millionaires and pitched a state program similar to the federal G.I. bill to cover at least some of the cost of higher education for students who go into critical fields like medicine, education and social work.
Senate District 25: Stark contrast among Johnston Democrats
A spectrum of ideologies are on display in Johnston’s District 25 primary, which features three Democrats vying to fill the seat formerly held by Sen. Frank Lombardo III, who died in February. Two of the three responded to questions from Rhode Island Current.
Former McKee advisor Richard DelFino appears most closely aligned with his pro-life predecessor on abortion issues, having secured the backing of Rhode Island Right to Life, as well as the Johnston Democratic Town Committee. However, the 37-year-old director of community and legislative affairs for Tri-County Community Action Agency, who also previously served on the Johnston Town Council, supports an assault weapons ban, something the pro-gun Lombardo did not.
Farther left of DelFino lies Pamela Leary, a 55-year-old operations manager for the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families, whose campaign draws on her own experience as the child of blue collar workers, and a young, single mother. Leary’s campaign features the usual staples of progressive candidates: affordable, accessible health care, stronger protections for workers and families, and an assault weapons ban. Attorney Andrew Dimitri was the first to throw his hat in the ring, announcing his campaign in early May, but unlike his Democratic rivals, has not set up a campaign website. Dimitri also did not respond to multiple requests to answer Rhode Island Current’s candidate questionnaire.
The open seat also presents an opportunity for Republicans to win favor with Johnston’s conservative voters, who backed Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020. Republican Karin Gorman is running unopposed in the September primary.
Senate District 28: Crowded Democratic primary for open seat
There’s no shortage of experience – or candidates – in the race to replace former Sen. Josh Miller. The five-way Democratic primary for the district spanning parts of Cranston and Providence features one sitting city councilwoman, along with several other contenders with relevant experience in political activism and government. The strength of the slate is such that even Miller, who served 18 years in office, said he can’t choose just one to endorse.
All five candidates responded to questions from Rhode Island Current.
Miller has donated $300 apiece to three of the candidates: Darrèll Brown, Melissa Carden and John Croke Jr., according to state campaign finance reports.
Cranston City Council Vice President Lammis Vargas may hold a slight edge, having served on the city council for six years, including as its vice president for the last year. However, Brown, vice president of the Conservation Law Foundation in Rhode Island, has flexed his muscle on environmental issues, including ongoing pollution issues in and around the port of Providence within the district. Meanwhile, Carden, executive director for the Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence, touts her work in helping pass safe storage legislation this year, among other advocacy efforts on Smith Hill. In a nod to the housing issues plaguing the district, and the rest of the state, Bernice Morris draws upon her community organizing and professional experience at Crossroads Rhode Island, while Croke emphasizes small business support as key to his platform.
Croke was the only one of the five not to support an assault weapons ban, while all five backed a millionaire’s tax and free school meals for all students, regardless of income, according to their responses to questions from Rhode Island Current.
Nancy Lavin is a staff writer for the Rhode Island Current.
