Here’s a quick guide to the races to watch. You can find our coverage today and tonight at Globe.com/RI.
All eyes on Cranston
Rhode Island’s second-largest city is the place to watch tonight, featuring a hard-fought Republican primary between Mayor Ken Hopkins and state Representative Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung as the main event but there are a few intriguing General Assembly primaries on the Democratic side, too.
There is no easy way to handicap the Hopkins/Fenton-Fung primary, except to state a few obvious factors: Hopkins is a relatively popular incumbent, Fenton-Fung has been working relentlessly and Cranston residents still really love her husband, former mayor Allan Fung, and turnout should be somewhere around 5,000 voters.
If you’re a party hopper, Hopkins will be at the St. Mary’s Feast Society Hall after polls close, and Fenton-Fung will be at Asia Grille in Garden City.
On the Democratic side, there’s no primary for mayor, but various parts of Cranston have interesting races.
There’s the open Senate District 28 seat with five Democrats (Councilwoman Lammis Vargas, Darrèll Brown, Melissa Carden, John Croke, and Bernice Morris) seeking to succeed retiring Senator Josh Miller.
In House District 14, longtime state Representative Charlene Lima faces a spirited challenge from Giona Picheco, who is trying to become the first transgender member of the legislature.
In House District 16, state Representative Brandon Potter faces Joseph Graziano and in House District 42 (which is more Johnston than Cranston), state Representative Edward T. Cardillo Jr. has a three-way race with Dennis Cardillo Jr. and Kelsey Coletta.
US Senate
There is only one primary guaranteed to be on your ballot today no matter where you live, and that’s the Democratic or Republican matchups for US Senate. If you’re voting in a Democratic primary, you’ll choose between incumbent US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and challenger Mike Costa. On the Republican side, state Representative Patricia Morgan takes on Ray McKay.
Providence
With no mayoral or City Council races this election cycle, there are only two General Assembly primaries to keep an eye on in the capital city. In House District 9, state Representative Enrique Sanchez faces former state representative Anastacia Williams and Santos Javier. Sanchez is considered a favorite, but Javier has a strong mail ballot operation in place and Williams held the office from 1993 until losing to Sanchez two years ago.
The other race to watch is House District 11, where state Representative Grace Diaz faces Tania Quezada. Diaz has held the office for two decades, but Quezada is considered a credible challenger.
Pawtucket
In House District 58, state Representative Cherie Cruz faces a Democratic primary challenge from Elizabeth Moreira, who has the backing of Mayor Don Grebien. Cruz has the backing of the Working Families Party, but it will be interesting to see whether Grebien’s machine can unseat an incumbent.
Incumbent protection
Speaking of incumbents, Senate President Dominick Ruggerio has had virtually the entire Senate knocking doors for him in his Democratic primary rematch with Lenny Cioe (even unlikely allies like state Senator Tiara Mack are backing Ruggerio).
Ruggerio has faced health challenges for most of the year, so Cioe is shooting his shot by calling on Ruggerio to pass the torch similarly to President Joe Biden. The challenge for Cioe that North Providence isn’t exactly reflective of the rest of America.Down in Westerly, House Speaker Joe Shekarchi has sent a lot of resources to help state Representative Sam Azzinaro in his primary challenge against Jonathan Daly-Labelle.
This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you’d like to receive it via e-mail Monday through Friday, you can sign up here.
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Dan McGowan can be reached at dan.mcgowan@globe.com. Follow him @danmcgowan.
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Publish date : 2024-09-10 02:08:00
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