Rhode Island primary election results

With approximately 10% of the eligible voting public in Rhode Island casting votes either early, by mail, or in person, key victories propel towards the general election in November – and for one major office, with no opposing candidate, a final winner surfaces.

The results are on the RI Secretary of State’s website – it is unclear how many early results have been included – or not. This line is on the website: Totals displayed below may include Early Voting and Mail Ballot category results.

Key office results

Governor of Rhode Island – Dan McKee wins the Democratic primary. Ashley Kalus wins the Republican primary. With thousands of early and mail ballots not in the totals at publication time, top opponent to McKee, Helena Foulkes called for all votes to be counted, however, late last night, she conceded to McKee. McKee was expected to take the majority among those votes. Ashley Kalus easily won her primary – and a well funded campaign is expected to see the Governor’s race go strong all the way to November.

As of early morning, Sept. 14:

Daniel J. McKee* (DEM)		36229	32.8%
Helena Buonanno Foulkes (DEM)		33190	30.1%
Nellie M. Gorbea (DEM)		28812	26.1%
Matthew A. Brown (DEM)		8744	7.9%
Luis Daniel Munoz (DEM)		3422	3.1%

Note: Early voters did not see the end of the campaign flip to Foulkes resulting from the CVS accusation regarding opioids. Numerous candidates in race. Nellie Gorbea’s initial strong start fizzled over time and as voting snafus with repeated errors on a small number of special voting machines including simple misspellings surfaced.

Also: During Gov. McKee’s public statement to the press, Eva Marie Mancuso, a campaign staffer repeatedly attempted to interview the Governor saying Helena Foulkes was on the phone and wanted to talk to him. The Governor was confused by the interruption and said, “no, that’s not going to happen”. That odd moment is getting the attention of media today.

Mayor of Providence – Brett Smiley won the primary and with no opposing candidates, effectively was elected Mayor yesterday.

Brett P. Smiley* (DEM)		8653	41.9%
Gonzalo Cuervo (DEM)		7476	36.2%
Nirva R. LaFortune (DEM)		4526	21.9%

Note: Gonzalo Cuervo had a strong showing, given the total voters. His participation in the debates (denied by one media outlet) allowed people to become more familiar with his approach and positions, given his limited financial ability to advertise. This added to a strong ground campaign.

Congress, District 2 – Seth Magaziner wins the primary and will face Allen Fung in the race to watch, overall in Rhode Island in November.

Seth M. Magaziner* (DEM)		29295	54.0%
David A. Segal (DEM)		8718	16.1%
Sarah E. Morgenthau (DEM)		6527	12.0%
Joy Fox (DEM)		5941	10.9%
Omar Bah (DEM)		2511	4.6%
Spencer E. Dickinson (DEM)		1296	2.4%

Note: 45% of voters in this Democratic primary race voted for one of the other candidates, but combined that would still leave Magaziner a strong overall winner.

Lieutenant Governor – Incumbent Sabina Matos, wins her primary and will face Republican primary winner, candidate Aaron Guckian.

Note: Matos repeatedly refused to debate, after an initial debate left her with less than desired results. Guckian, a well-polished speaker is expected to challenge Matos repeatedly to public forums – if she continues to refuse, this will have an impact on results. While Matos campaigned at the side of McKee, the two offices are not tied together. With nearly 50% of votes in the Democratic primary going for the two other candidates (Ruggiero and Mendes) this will be one to watch.

General Treasurer – James Diossa wins the primary with a strong challenge by Stefan Pryor.

James A. Diossa* (DEM)		56597	55.5%
Stefan I. Pryor (DEM)		45417	44.5%

Note: Again, early voting did not consider the debate showing where Pryor made significant inroads on Diossa’s lack of experience in financial/investment management. Pryor, who left his position at Commerce RI to run for office faces a new career challenge and opportunities out of state may await him.

Secretary of State: Gregg Amore easily wins with over 64% of the Democratic primary vote, facing Pat Cortellessa in the general election.

Attorney General: Charles Calenda wins, unchallenged, in the Republican primary. AG Peter Neronha, also unchallenged, wins the Democratic primary.

Congress, District 1: Allen Waters wins unopposed, in Republican primary – Incumbent, David Cicilline wins, also unopposed, in Democratic primary.

NOTES statewide primary results:

• Matthew LaMountain wins, District 31, over Harrison Tuttle
• Charlene Lima, wins, Rep, District 14, over Giona Picheco
• Brandon Potter, wins, Rep, District 16, over Natalya DelSanto
• Frank Lombardo, wins, Sen. District 25 over Christopher Masselli
• Jennifer T. Rourke, wins, Sen. District 29, over Michael Carreiro
• Camille F. Vella-Wilkinson, wins, Rep, District 21, over Capri Catanzaro
• Ana Vargas, wins, Providence Council Ward 7, over David Marshall
• Jennifer Stewart, wins, Pawtucket, over Jean Barros, District 59
• Tiara Mack, wins, Providence, District 7, over Joseph Almeida
• Enrique Sanchez, wins, Providence, District 9, over Anastasia Williams

To view all results – which will be updated – and is searchable by city and town, go to:

https://www.ri.gov/election/results/2022/statewide_primary/

To view all city/town races, go to the link, above then click on the 3 horizontal lines stacked lines in the upper right hand corner of the page, across from the words, “RI.gov Election Results”