In Assembly, many face no opposition on ballot

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — More than a third of Rhode Island lawmakers are running for reelection unopposed.

By the time Friday's 4 p.m. deadline had come and gone for cities and towns to count up the number of signatures on each candidate's nominating petition, a swath of potential challengers had either dropped out or come up short.

With 113 seats in the Democrat-dominated General Assembly up for grabs, 41 races feature only one candidate, and all but two of them are incumbents, according to a list the secretary of state’s office made public on Friday night.

Put another way: 36 percent of Rhode Island's legislative seats will be uncontested — 11 in the Senate and 30 in the House of Representatives. 

The list of unchallenged lawmakers includes House Majority Leader K. Joseph Shekarchi, who has no opponent despite GOP recruitment efforts in his Warwick district, which chose Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in the presidential election two years ago. Senate President Dominick Ruggerio is also running unopposed. But House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello again faces the state's Republican National Committeeman Steven Frias, who came within 85 votes of beating him in Cranston two years ago.

The two newcomers who can coast to Election Day are Democrat Thomas Noret, the only remaining candidate for the House District 25 seat, representing voters in parts of Coventry and West Warwick — the seat is held by Democrat Jared Nunes, who is not seeking reelection —  and Democrat Karen Alzate, the lone candidate to replace Rep. David Coughlin in House District 60 in Pawtucket. Coughlin is also not seeking reelection.

By the end of the day Friday, the races for the five top state offices — and the state's congressional seats — had also taken shape, with a half-dozen fewer candidates than there were during the late-June candidate-declaration period.

But all of the major-party candidates for the top five statewide offices made the grade. In fact, there are still 10 candidates in the scramble to become Rhode Island's next governor or in Democrat Gina Raimondo's case, to win reelection to a second term.

It's not quite over. Challenges can be filed by 4 p.m. Monday, for hearing on Tuesday, so there still may be a few changes. But here's how the races appear now:

U.S. Senate: Sheldon Whitehouse, the two-term incumbent, faces 81-year-old peace-activist Patricia Fontes in a Democratic primary; former Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Robert Flanders faces Roque De La Fuente, who at one point this year was running for the Senate in six states, in a Rhode Island GOP primary.

Congress: First District Congressman David Cicilline faces perennial candidate Christopher Young in a Democratic primary; Patrick Donovan, of Newport, and Frederick Wysocki, of Woonsocket, will face each other in the Republican primary. 2nd District Congressman James Langevin, a Democrat, faces Republican Salvatore Caiozzo in the November general election.

Governor: One political unknown dropped out of the picture, but incumbent Raimondo still faces former Secretary of State Matt Brown and former state Rep. Spencer Dickinson in the Democratic primary; Allan Fung, the Republican mayor of Cranston, faces state Rep. Patricia Morgan and businessman Giovanni Feroce in a GOP primary; Moderate Party Chairman William Gilbert is carrying his party's banner. Former state Republican Rep. Joseph Trillo made the ballot as an independent, as did Luis Munoz and Anne Armstrong.

Lieutenant Governor: Both Dan McKee, the incumbent, and state Rep. Aaron Regunberg made the Democratic primary ballot. Republican Paul Pence and Moderate Party candidate Joel Hellman also qualified for the ballot, as did independents Ross McCurdy and Jonathan Riccitelli.

In the down-ballot races, Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea and her Republican challenger Pat Cortellessa made the ballot, as did General Treasurer Seth Magaziner and his Republican opponent Michael Riley. Former U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha — let go by the Trump administration in early 2017 — has a single competitor for attorney general, independent Alan Gordon running with Armstrong on the Compassion Party ticket.

More of the sifting took place at the legislative level, where 40 percent of the 75 House races are uncontested. In the Senate, 29 percent of the 38 seats have only a single candidate.

The 11 incumbent senators without challengers are: Democrats Ana Quezada of Providence, Gayle Goldin of Providence, Senate President Dominick Ruggerio of North Providence, Frank Ciccone of Providence, Walter Felag of Warren, Donna Nesselbush of Pawtucket, Elizabeth Crowley of Central Falls, Frank Lombardi of Cranston, Joshua Miller of Cranston, and Susan Sosnowski of South Kingstown; and Republican Dennis Algiere of Westerly.

The incumbent representatives without challengers are: Democrats Edie Ajello of Providence, Christopher Blazejewski of Providence, Ray Hull of Providence, John Lombardi of Providence, Scott Slater of Providence, Robert Jacquard of Cranston, Arthur Handy of Cranston, Joe Solomon of Warwick, K. Joseph Shekarchi, the House majority leader, of Warwick, Julie Casimiro of North Kingstown, Samuel Azzinaro of Westerly, Stephen Ucci of Johnston, Deborah Fellela of Johnston, Gregory Costantino of Lincoln, Mia Ackerman of Cumberland, Michael Morin of Woonsocket, Stephen Casey of Woonsocket, William O’Brien of North Providence, Arthur Corvese of North Providence, Shelby Maldonado of Central Falls, James McLaughlin of Cumberland, Mary Messier of Pawtucket, Gregg Amore of East Providence, John Edwards, the House majority whip, of Tiverton, Dennis Canario of Portsmouth and Lauren Carson of Newport; and Republicans Brian Newberry of North Smithfield and Blake Filippi of Block Island.  

As things stand, it appears there will be 34 Republican and Democratic primary fights across the landscape. That includes push-back in the political backyards of Senate Majority Leader Michael McCaffrey in Warwick and House Judiciary Chairman Cale Keable in Burrillville.