Six Rhode Island legislative races to watch on Election Day

Tuesday’s election will decide the outcomes of 43 state legislative races in Rhode Island. (Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)

Presidential race aside, Tuesday’s election isn’t likely to make waves in Rhode Island. All the state’s general officeholders have two more years in their current terms, while more than 60% of the 113 state legislative seats have already been decided because there is no general election opponent.

Not that the 43 contested state legislative seats are totally without intrigue. From high-heeled logos to union endorsement drama and attendance record squabbles, here’s a look at six state legislative races to watch.

Senate District 33: Coventry, West Greenwich

Sen. Leonidas Raptakis has been a fixture at the State House for nearly four decades, with stints on both sides of the rotunda. But the 64-year-old Democrat’s experience did not dissuade Republican James Pierson from mounting a challenge for the seat spanning parts of Coventry and West Greenwich.

Pierson, 51, a 10-year member of the Coventry School Committee and its current chairman, decided to try his hand at a state-level position because he was fed up with what he feels is a lack of representation on Smith Hill.

Pierson rattled off a list of complaints with Raptakis in a recent interview: poor attendance in legislative committee meetings; out-of-country travel, some of which was paid for through Raptakis’ role with the nonprofit World Hellenic Inter-Parliamentary Association; and the fact that Raptakis, who sold his restaurant in Coventry and rents his house, doesn’t pay local property taxes. The same gripes are front-and-center of mailers Pierson has been circulating, complete with footnoted documents for each critique.

Raptakis, however, maintains that Pierson’s attacks are an attempt to shift focus away from Pierson’s own problematic record, including a recently-revealed $5 million school deficit in Coventry. Raptakis also defended his attendance record, noting that while he has sometimes missed committee meetings, he was present and voting in all but two of the Senate’s 34 floor sessions this year. 

This is Raptakis’ first general election challenger since 2018, but he insists he’s not worried, despite the conservative bent among western Rhode Island voters. Although a Democrat, Raptakis voted with state Republicans opposing laws that expanded abortion access and restricted gun ownership in recent years. Pierson also describes himself as a pro-gun and pro-life candidate.

House District 42: Johnston, Cranston

Progressive Democrat Kelsey Coletta made headlines in the September primary as the only challenger to oust a sitting lawmaker, edging out House District 42 Rep. Edward Cardillo by 31 votes in a three-way race that also featured Cardillo’s nephew. Coletta’s still in the news now over a state police union endorsement.

Coletta announced her backing by the International Brotherhood of Police Officers in a now-deleted social media post on Oct. 18. The endorsement was rescinded a few days later, with the union opting not to take a position in the race between Coletta and Republican Richard Fascia. The union has not commented on why it rescinded the endorsement. 

Fascia, a retired Providence Police officer, seized upon the reversal in campaign fliers, linking the withdrawn endorsement to Coletta’s support for safe drug injection sites. Cardillo also weighed in, posting a statement on Oct. 30 on X criticizing Coletta’s “radical policies.”

Coletta did not respond to multiple inquiries for comment, but has enjoyed support from top Democrats across the political spectrum in Rhode Island, including her father, House Floor Manager Jay Edwards, who represents Tiverton.

Fascia, 67, who now works in human resources, described himself as a fiscal conservative intent on “watching the pennies.” If elected, his top priorities included capping property revaluations for veterans and seniors and more “effective and efficient spending to combat the homeless problem.”

Coletta, a social worker, also named affordable and low-income housing as a top issue on her campaign website, along with higher reimbursement rates for mental health and substance use care providers.

Senate District 25: Johnston

It’s hard to miss the red,-white-and-blue high heel proclaiming “Trump girl” that has become the signature logo for Republican District 25 candidate Karin Gorman. Unlike many Rhode Island Republicans who try not to bring national politics into their races, Gorman’s support for Donald Trump is front and center in her campaign.

“I just like his policies,” Gorman, a 61-year-old who works in an accounting firm, said in a recent interview.

Trump won Johnston in 2016 and 2020. Longtime incumbent Sen. Frank Lombardo, who held the seat for six terms before he died in February, was among the more conservative Democrats on Smith Hill.

Trump’s hard line on immigration in particular appeals to Gorman, who serves as director of a group called Rhode Island for Immigration Law Enforcement, which says it seeks to raise awareness about the “financial and social impact of illegal aliens on our state.”

By contrast, Democrat Andrew Dimitri, who bested two opponents in the September primary, declined to say who he’s voting for in the presidential race. Instead, Dimitri, a 32-year-old lawyer and first-time candidate,  is focused on local issues: easing restrictions for small businesses, job creation and funding for Johnston schools. Like his Democratic predecessor, Dimitri opposed an assault weapons ban, though he was supportive of other gun restrictions like red flag laws.

Gorman had little to say about her opponent, beyond that Dimitri is “nice young man but he’s on the wrong team.” She was hesitant to propose any legislative priorities that involved new programs or funding.

“I’m more about taking away than putting in,” she said.

House District 15: Cranston

The hostility surrounding Cranston’s mayoral race hasn’t affected a state legislative competition for Cranston’s House District 15. Instead, Republican Chris Paplauskas, a five-term Cranston City Councilman, didn’t have anything to say about his Democratic opponent, Maria Bucci, when asked. Paplauskas instead focused on his record on the city council, hoping to take a can-do, customer-service-oriented attitude to the State House to bring more resources to his district,

The 42-year-old sign manufacturer, with a side gig delivering pizzas, named increased funding for Meshanticut State Park in Cranston as a top priority if elected.

“I like making tangible changes that you can touch and feel,” he said. A self-described Reagan Republican and backer of Republican Mayor Ken Hopkins’ reelection campaign, Paplauskas pledged willingness to work across the aisle on “any idea if it’s a good one.” 

The western Cranston district was held by conservative Democrat and former House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello for 14 years, until Mattiello was ousted by Republican Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung in 2020. Fenton-Fung did not seek reelection this year, instead challenging Hopkins in the Republican mayoral primary in September.

Bucci, who ran against Hopkins in Cranston’s 2020 mayoral race, losing by 8 percentage points, did not respond to multiple inquiries for comment. Her campaign website is light on information about her background or legislative priorities, though a corresponding campaign Facebook page touts endorsements from several state unions, and features photos of her with U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner and other top state Democrats.

Senate District 29: Warwick

Republican Sen. Anthony DeLuca flipped Warwick’s Senate District 29 — previously held by Democratic Senate Majority Leader Michael McCaffrey — with relative ease in 2022. But DeLuca’s reelection bid against Democrat Peter Appollonio Jr., a retired West Warwick police officer, might be harder. Appollonio easily beat Democrat Jennifer Rourke — DeLuca’s 2022 general election opponent — in the Sept. 5 primary, and has strong support among top state Democrats. 

DeLuca, a former East Greenwich firefighter who now works for the Warwick Water Department, acknowledges the race will be close. But, the 42-year-old said he hopes his community roots and record as a freshman legislator will give him the edge.

In an interview, DeLuca cited his “no” vote on the state’s fiscal 2024 budget — one of four Republican senators to do so — as an accomplishment.

He acknowledged that as a member of the minority party, it’s difficult to make change, but said protecting residents and taxpayers prevails over party politics.

DeLuca was also the lead sponsor on a 2024 bill setting up a state inspector general’s office; the bill never advanced beyond committee but has drawn more support from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in the wake of the Washington Bridge crisis and the results of the state ILO investigation. 

DeLuca said reintroducing the inspector general legislation is his top priority if reelected.

Appollonio did not respond to inquiries for comment.

House District 53: Smithfield, Glocester

Two-term Democratic Rep. Bernard Hawkins has reemerged to try and reclaim the seat he lost by 58 votes in 2022. And his prior Republican rival, Rep. Brian Rea, isn’t seeking a second term; instead, Hawkins faces former Smithfield Town Council President Paul Santucci in the race to represent House District 53, spanning Smithfield and Glocester. 

Hawkins, who also served on the Smithfield Town Council before ascending to the State House in 2018, did not respond to multiple inquiries for comment. In a September statement announcing his campaign, Hawkins named job creation and tax breaks for families and small businesses as priorities.

Santucci, a 60-year-old financial advisor, also stressed business support and residential property tax rates in an emailed response to questions about his campaign. And, he pledged to reverse a 2021 state law that reclassified possession of 10 grams or less of certain controlled substances as a misdemeanor, rather than a felony.

“That’s enough to kill 5,000 people,” Santucci wrote.

Santucci framed his candidacy as a way to bring “balance” to a Democratic-controlled legislature, which he alleges is “not working.” But several items on his legislative wish list — such as higher reimbursement rates for health care providers and creation of a state inspector’ general’s office — have bipartisan support.