PROVIDENCE – After several weeks of campaign messages, debates and verbal jabs, voters on Tuesday will decide on multiple Rhode Island candidates seeking high-profile elective offices to advance to the Nov. 8 general election.
Incumbent Gov. Daniel J. McKee is facing a tough challenge in Tuesday’s primary as he seeks his first full term in office after taking over when two-term Gov. Gina M. Raimondo was tapped as U.S. commerce secretary in early 2021. The Democrats McKee – a former Cumberland mayor – is facing are current R.I. State Secretary Nellie M. Gorbea, former CVS Health Corp. executive Helena B. Foulkes, former R.I. State Secretary Matt Brown and community organizer Dr. Luis Daniel Muñoz.
The Democratic winner from Tuesday will advance to face either businesswoman Ashley Kalus or longshot candidate Jonathan Riccitelli, both of whom are squaring off Tuesday in the Republican primary.
In the 2nd U.S. Congressional District, R.I. Treasurer Seth Magaziner, who as of July was the leading fundraiser by a significant margin, faces Clarendon Group CEO Joy E. Fox, former Providence city councilor and state Rep. David Segal, Refugee Dream Center Founder Omar Bah and Sarah Morgenthau, former deputy assistant secretary for travel and tourism with the U.S. Department of Commerce in the Democratic primary.
The winner will face Republican candidate and former Cranston Mayor Allan W. Fung in November. Fung ran unsuccessful gubernatorial campaigns against Raimondo in 2014 and 2018.
In the capital city, three Democrats are vying for the open seat left by term-limited Mayor Jorge O. Elorza: Gonzalo Cuervo, Nirva LaFortune and Brett Smiley. Whoever wins the Tuesday primary will be the only name to appear on the November general election ballot.
R.I. gubernatorial race
McKee, who increased his spending leading up to Tuesday’s election, is touting his leadership in navigating the state’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic after he was sworn in as governor in March 2021. His leading Democratic opponent, Gorbea, who would be the first Latina governor in New England if elected, says the state needs better leadership on issues such as housing, education and climate change.
Foulkes told Providence Business News in March she wants the state to invest more in public schools in order to rebound from learning loss that the COVID-19 pandemic created and lessen the bureaucracy that businesses face in operating in the Ocean State. Muñoz, in speaking with PBN in May, feels the state can work more with municipalities in order to try to create incentive programs for Rhode Island tangible asset tax reductions, and then simultaneously see if it can allocate dollars to some of the housing projects that municipalities want to engage in.
Brown, during the Sept. 8 Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce gubernatorial business forum, said he would raise taxes of the top 1% by 5 percentage points and establish a business tax system where the amount of taxes a business pays depends on the business’ size, with large corporations paying the highest taxes.
U.S. congressional race
Magaziner is considered the front-runner for the state’s 2nd Congressional District to succeed Langevin, who announced back in January he would not seek reelection after 11 consecutive terms on Capitol Hill. Langevin back in June also endorsed Magaziner as the top Democratic candidate among a crowded field vying for the 2nd District seat in Washington.
Magaziner, who also switched from running for governor to going for Congress, says he would support suspending the federal gas tax to help lower costs for individuals, while his long-range plans include fighting for the offshore wind industry and creating additional funding for states for climate-resiliency projects. Magaziner also focused his campaign on keeping the seat in Democrat hands, and regularly attacked the Republican side.
Both Morgenthau and Fox say they want to be Rhode Island’s first Democratic woman elected to U.S. Congress. Claudia Schneider, a Republican who served from 1981 through 1991, is the only Rhode Island woman elected to Congress to date. Fox, a former journalist and communications associate for Langevin, touts her roots within the 2nd District and wants to work to support expanding the federal child tax credit and investing in workforce development initiatives, such as apprenticeship programs. Morgenthau says would focus on “American competitiveness” in improving the country’s position on supply chains and job training. Bah, who was born in Africa, is eager to be recognized as the first Black representative to be elected from Rhode Island and as one of a handful of refugees to serve in Congress. He also says he wants to make public colleges free for students to attend.
Segal says he’d like to attack price gouging and prevent companies from creating monopolies. He also says he would discourage the Federal Reserve from increasing interest rates too fast.
National Republican leaders aim to flip the seat into their control for the first time since 1991, and they’re hoping the former Cranston mayor can do it. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy visited Rhode Island in August to raise money for Fung.
Former Bryant University president Ronald K. Machtley, a U.S. Navy veteran, spent six years in Congress until 1995 as the last Republican from Rhode Island to serve in congress. He previously told PBN in a June 24 cover story that whatever the personal motivations of the candidates, there are “a lot of fundamental things” newly elected members must focus on before becoming a standout in the chamber.
That, he said, includes whether to live in Rhode Island while working in Washington, addressing legislation on unfamiliar issues and, perhaps most important, getting on desired committees.
In the 1st Congressional District, David N. Cicilline, D-R.I., will face Republican Allen Waters in November. Both are unopposed Tuesday. Cicilline is seeking his seventh term.
Providence mayoral race
Cuervo, who has held leadership roles in city hall and the R.I. Secretary of State’s office, received Elorza’s endorsement, but Smiley, a top aide to former governor Raimondo, has outraised and outspent his opponents significantly throughout the race, including on the only TV ads in the campaign.
LaFortune, a city councilwoman, has touted her professional and personal experience as an immigrant and single mother with children in the troubled city school system. Smiley has framed his campaign around a practical attitude to fixing infrastructure and city services, also highlighting his experience in personnel management and contracts. Cuervo’s bid has similarly touted his experience in government and as a former small-business owner, taking a strong stance on how to combat the inequities in income and housing access across the city.
The candidates have largely agreed on key issues in the city, including shoring up the city’s beleaguered pension system, addressing a lack of housing and improving the city’s school system, which is under state control.
Voter turnout
As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, 48,840 voters across the state casted their ballots, according to data from the R.I. Secretary of State’s office. Of that total, 20,855 went to the polls Tuesday in person when the polls first opened at 7 a.m. – they close at 8 p.m.
There were 14,906 early voters and 13,079 mail ballots sent to the R.I. Board of Elections. Providence has as of 11 a.m. the highest turnout in the state at 8,066 total voters, including 1,857 early voters and 2,804 mail ballots.
Warwick has the second highest turnout in the Ocean State as of 11 a.m. at 4,562, followed by Cranston at 3,140, East Providence at 2,985 and Pawtucket at 2,188.
PBN staffers James Bessette, Jacquelyn Voghel and Nancy Lavin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
