New lawmakers could populate the chambers on either side of this chandelier seen from the third floor of the Rhode Island State House. But they’ll have to survive election season first. (Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
The field of political office-seekers continued to grow Tuesday on the second day of Rhode Island’s three-day declaration of candidacy period — including potential challenges against General Assembly leadership.
As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, 170 statewide and federal candidates had filed declaration papers for the upcoming primary and general elections. You can see the latest list of candidates who filed declaration forms here.
The filing deadline is 4 p.m. Wednesday. After that, they’ll have to collect enough signatures from registered voters to qualify for the partisan Sept. 10 primary ballot while independents ned to collect signatures to qualify for the Nov. 5 ballot.
Senate President Dominick Ruggerio may face a familiar Democratic primary challenger: progressive Leonardo Americo Cioe. The two first squared off in 2020, when Ruggeiro came out on top by only 582 votes. During the 2022 primary, Ruggerio defeated Cioe by 999.
No Democratic challenger has filed against House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, but he could face a potential rematch in the Nov. 5 general election. Republican Dana James Traversie, whose website boasts his “zero political experience” despite having run for office before, declared his candidacy Tuesday.
Traversie lost by over 1,110 votes in 2022 — securing only 40% of the vote.
Many of the General Assembly races are also starting to take shape. Four Democrats — Darnell Brown, Melissa Garden, Christopher Lanen, and Lammas Vargas — have declared their candidacy for the seat vacated by Cranston Sen. Joshua Miller, who announced June 18 he would not seek a 10th term in office.
Three have filed their declaration papers to run for the Senate seat vacated by Frank Lombardi of Cranston: Democrats Todd Patalano and David Alden Sears, along with Republican Jennifer Caputi.
Only one candidate filed for the State House seat vacated by Cranston Republican Rep. Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung, who is not seeking reelection in order to run for mayor of her city. Fenton-Fung would face Republican Mayor Ken Hopkins who is seeking reelection. Only one Democrat, Robert Ferri, has filed to run for the mayor’s office in Cranston.
Cranston City Councilor Christopher G. Paplauskas, a Republican, hopes to fill Fenton-Fung’s House seat.
The nonpartisan race for Woonsocket mayor includes incumbent Christopher Beauchamp, Keith Harrison, City Council President John Ward, and Michael Warner.
Rep. Jon D. Brien of Woonsocket, the only independent serving in the General Assembly, filed to run for reelection. He faces no opposition from any party as of Tuesday evening.
Nine other independent legislative candidates have declared their candidacy. They include Amanda Blais, who declared to run for the District 19 set held by Senate Majority Leader Ryan Pearson of Cumberland. Pearson has filed to run for reelection.
Independent Vincent Marzullo filed to run for the District 26 House seat held by Rep. Patricia Morgan, a West Warwick Republican who is not seeking reelection in order to run for U.S. Senate against incumbent Sheldon Whitehouse.
Democrat Earl Read III and Republican Jeffrey Fisher filed to run for the open District 26 House seat, which includes parts of West Warwick, Coventry and Warwick.
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