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A college freshman for governor? See who made and missed the Rhode Island ballot

Zachary Hurwitz of Narragansett is too young to have cast a ballot in a state election before, but he's not too young for Rhode Islanders to make him governor this November.

In between shifts at the Coffee 'N Bagel Connection on Boston Neck Road and preparing for classes at the University of Rhode Island in the fall, the 18-year-old North Kingstown High School graduate collected the 1,000 signatures necessary to qualify for the gubernatorial ballot, according to Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea's office.

"During my sophomore year, during COVID, while people were sitting around and watching 'Tiger King,' I was researching the topic, and I realized I could do it," he said Friday. "Politics has always been a big part of my life."

The top issue on his platform is making the state provide free lunches and breakfasts to all students at public K-12 schools.

Rhode Island Primary Voting Guide: Everything you need to know to get your ballot

Zachary Hurwitz, of Narragansett, who will be a URI freshman this fall, qualified to run for governor as an independent.
Zachary Hurwitz, of Narragansett, who will be a URI freshman this fall, qualified to run for governor as an independent.

Hurwitz, whose father is president of health care research company Clarity Science, said he is running as an ideological moderate to "work across party lines."

He wasn't eligible to vote in the 2020 presidential election, and he said he was not sure whom he would have voted for if he had been.

It's a long shot, to say the least, but if Hurwitz were elected he'd be the youngest Rhode Island governor ever.

William Sprague was 30 when he became governor in 1860, the youngest to do so under the state Constitution, according to State Librarian Megan Hamlin-Black. (William Coddington Jr. of Newport was 32 when he entered office in 1683 under the old Royal Charter.)

The last independent to be elected governor was Lincoln Chafee in 2010. That year Hurwitz was 6.

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To be eligible to become governor, you have to be 18 years and 30 days old on Election Day. Hurwitz reached that age by the end of May.

He is the first candidate to make the ballot for governor who was born in the 21st century.

Five other candidates declared to run for governor as independents (which includes members of the Libertarian Party), but none filed the necessary signatures to get on the ballot.

That includes vaccination mandate critic Paul Rianna Jr., who came up 48 signatures short, according to Gorbea's office.

Libertarian Elijah Gizzarelli came up 61 signatures short and is challenging the rejection of some of his signatures.

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Friday was the deadline to challenge signatures

Candidates or interested parties had until 4 p.m. Friday to challenge any signatures that were not accepted and might have allowed them to qualify, or to challenge the validity of signatures that were submitted.

According to Johnathan Berard, Gorbea's deputy director of communications, there were 10 challenges filed, including Gizzarelli's.

They include the campaign manager for Warwick Democratic Senate candidate Jennifer Rourke challenging the signatures handed in by Michael Carreiro for the Senate seat being vacated by Majority Leader Michael McCaffrey.

Rep. Brianna Henries, D-East Providence, is challenging Ashley Pereira, who is challenging her in the Democratic primary for House District 64.

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Back in the governor's race, five Democrats qualified for the Sept. 13 primary ballot: Matt Brown, Helena Buonanno Foulkes, Nellie Gorbea, Dan McKee and Luis Daniel Muñoz.

There will also be a Republican primary for governor, as Jonathan Riccitelli qualified along with the better-funded Ashley Kalus.

Riccitelli came in a distant fourth place, with 2.7% of the vote, in his 2018 run as an independent to become lieutenant governor. He later applied for appointment to the post by McKee, who chose someone else.

Riccitelli bills himself as the "only 100% Rhode Islander Running for Governor [as a] Republican."

He describes Kalus, a relative newcomer to Rhode Island who has built her name recognition with nonstop TV and radio ads since spring, as a "woman who at one point lived here in her past. Left to a better state that could meet her family's needs. Then came back when her husband was awarded $7 million plus contract to do covid testing sites."

A self-described small-business owner, the 40-year-old Riccitelli — who has not yet reported raising or spending any campaign money — explained in a press release he posted on his Facebook page in May why he wants to be governor.

"Firstly, because I have the sensibility and more than the capabilities to redirect the atmosphere of what the current and prior administrations have left or are leading Rhode Islanders to live with. But mostly because I was asked by a good number of residents, that said I should and now is that time."

2nd Congressional District

Over in the 2nd Congressional District, there won't be a Republican primary unless Donald Robbio is successful challenging the rejection of signatures that leaves him 82 names short of appearing on the ballot against Allan Fung.

Moderate Party Chairman William Gilbert, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2018, made the general election ballot for the 2nd District. (Gilbert took 2.7% of the vote in 2018.)

In 2014, some Republicans believed the 69,000 votes Robert Healey received for the Moderate Party cost Fung the governor's race in his 4-point loss to Raimondo.

Six Democrats made the ballot for the 2nd Congressional District primary: Omar Bah, Spencer Dickinson, Joy Fox, Seth Magaziner, Sarah Morgenthau and David Segal.

General Assembly races

In the General Assembly, nine Republicans who filed to run for the Senate and 18 candidates who filed to run for the House failed to return nominating papers or meet the signature threshold.

That leaves 43 Republicans seeking seats in the House and 29 in the Senate for a total of 72.

Barring last-minute developments, five Senators are cruising to reelection without opposition, as well as 17 House members. The unopposed are: Sens. Jessica de la Cruz,  Ana Quezada, Hannah Gallo, Joshua Miller and Leonidas Raptakis; and Reps. Nathan Biah, John Lombardi, Scott Slater, Jose Batista, Jacquelyn Baginski, Arthur Handy, Thomas Noret, Sherry Roberts, Samuel Azzinaro, Stephen Casey, William O'Brien, Joshua Giraldo, Karen Alzate, Terri Cortvriend, Marvin Abney, Alex Finkelman and Lauren Carson. 

(An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Rep. Mary Ann Shallcross Smith, D-Lincoln, was running unopposed. Angelo Kapsimalis, running as an independent, has also qualified the ballot in House District 46.)

Lieutenant governor

In the lieutenant governor's race, Sabina Matos, Cynthia Mendes and Deborah Ruggiero made the ballot for the Democratic primary, but former state Rep. Larry Valencia, who in May said he would run on a platform of eliminating the office, did not collect enough signatures to qualify.

Aaron Guckian and Paul Pence will face off for the GOP lieutenant governor nomination, while Ross McCurdy qualified for the general election ballot as an independent.

Attorney general

Democrat Peter Neronha and Republican Charles Calenda qualified for the attorney general ballot with no independents making it.

Treasurer

Democrats James Diossa and Stefan Pryor made the ballot for general treasurer, and James Lathrop made the ballot as a Republican.

Secretary of state

In the race for secretary of state, Gregg Amore will face Stephanie Beaute in the Democratic primary. Anthony Tamba is challenging the ruling that he came up 28 signatures short.

Pat Cortellessa made the ballot as a Republican.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: A college freshman for governor? See who made and missed the RI ballot