RI State Senate, RI State House: Conservative Democrats have long been the dominant force in the Rhode Island legislature, but progressives pulled off some key wins in both chambers in the Sept. 8 primaries. The outcome of several contests were not known until mail-in ballots were counted on Thursday, but a total of four state senators and six state representatives ended up losing renomination. All of the victorious Senate challengers came from the progressive wing of the party as did most, though not all, of the House candidates.
The most powerful incumbent to lose in the 38-member Senate was Finance Committee Chairman William Conley, whom Cynthia Mendes unseated by a 62-38 margin. Mendes is a member of the Rhode Island Political Cooperative, which supported a number of progressive candidates across the state, and she doesn’t face any Republican opposition in the general election. That same day Conley’s son, Dylan Conley, lost his Democratic primary campaign for the 2nd Congressional District 70-30 against longtime incumbent Jim Langevin.
Another victorious Cooperative member was Tiara Mack, who defeated state Sen. Harold Metts 60-40 in another seat that Republicans aren’t contesting. Metts is an ardent opponent of LGBTQ rights and abortion access who said just last year, “I guess the question is: who favors abortion more? God or Satan,” while Mack campaigned as a “Queer Reproductive Justice Advocate.”
Another incumbent, state Sen. Betty Crowley, lost 50-40 to Cooperative member Jonathon Acosta in yet another race without a Republican candidate. Meanwhile, state Sen. Mark McKenney lost his rematch to former state Sen. Jeanine Calkin, who is the Cooperative co-chair, 55-45 in another seat the Republicans aren’t contesting; last cycle, McKenney unseated Calkin 54-46. Progressives also achieved some notable open seat wins.
The chamber’s two most powerful members, Senate President Dominick Ruggerio and Senate Majority Leader Mike McCaffrey, did both win renomination, though by unimpressive margins. Ruggerio, who engaged progressives in July when he opposed a bill to send absentee ballot applications to all voters for this primary, beat Leonardo Cioe 55-45. McCaffrey did a bit better by beating Cooperative co-chair Jennifer Rourke 58-42.
Over in the House, six Democrats in the 75-member body lost renomination, though only four of these were wins for progressives. The big exception was state Rep. Moira Walsh, a high-profile critic of conservative Democratic Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, was defeated 65-35 by Nathan Biah. The final race saw former state Rep. Ramon Perez win his rematch against incumbent Mario Mendez in a contest where neither candidate was a progressive. Perez lost his 2018 campaign after, as WPRI’s Ted Nesi writes, he apologized for “passing out a printed copy of a Wikipedia article that showed multiple open web browser tabs referencing pornography.”
Democrats hold a 33-5 supermajority in the Senate and a massive 66-8 edge in the House (one additional member is Republican-turned-independent John Lyle), and there’s no question that Team Blue will easily hold both chambers. However, several of Tuesday’s winners said they were unlikely to support Ruggerio and Mattiello, so both men may see their influence diminish even if they keep their leadership posts next year.
But Mattiello, who only won his general election 52-47 in 2018 in a Cranston-area seat that supported Donald Trump 56-40, has more immediate worries. While Ruggerio has no general election opponent, the speaker faces a challenge this fall from Republican Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung. Fenton-Fung is the wife of Allan Fung, the outgoing Cranston mayor and Team Red’s 2014 and 2018 gubernatorial nominee.
