The countdown has begun to fill the late Senate President Dominick Ruggerio’s seat. A timeline with a July 8 primary followed by an Aug. 5 general special election was approved by the Rhode Island Board of Elections Tuesday.
Ruggerio, a North Providence Democrat, died on April 21 at age 76. His death opens up the Senate District 4 seat representing North Providence and a small section of northern Providence, which Ruggerio has represented for the last 40 years.
The election panel’s unanimous vote Tuesday laying out a calendar for the special election came immediately, without discussion.
State law requires open seats to be filled 70 to 90 days after a vacancy occurs. However, there is flexibility to push the election later within the calendar year if it is “doubtful” that the successor will be chosen in time to complete the legislative session. The primary and election dates were chosen so that schools, which will be on summer recess, could be used as polling places, and to give local election administrators time to advertise, Miguel Nunez, executive director for the Board of Elections, said during the meeting Tuesday.
Candidates must declare their intent to seek the state office during a two-day window on May 29 and 30, based on the primary date the state elections panel set Tuesday. Declared candidates have till June 5 to turn in at least 100 signatures of registered district voters to their local board of canvassers.
Already, contenders are filling out the potential field, with one — former state Rep. Marcia Ranglin-Vassell — confirming her candidacy in a May 2 Facebook post.
“North Providence and Providence need a Senator with: experience, passion, purpose and a proven track record of fighting and winning for all of us,” Ranglin-Vassell, a Providence Democrat, wrote. “North Providence and Providence need a Senator who will listen and to and take all of our voices and concerns to the State House. North Providence and Providence need a Senator who will fight for our shared values.”
The 64-year-old Providence Public Schools teacher served three terms representing House District 6 before opting not to seek reelection in 2022.
She did not immediately respond to inquiries for comment on Tuesday.
North Providence Town Council President Dino Autiello and Councilman Stefano Famiglietti have both indicated they are considering a run for the open seat, according to news reports.
“The final decision has not been made,” Famiglietti said in a phone interview Tuesday. “The Council President and I are very close. We both have a forward-looking and passionate vision for the town of North Providence, so that being said, I think both of us want to get on the same page to see which one of us is going to run. It’s going to be one of us. It will not be both.”
Famiglietti, 33, is an associate attorney at the Providence law firm Coia & Lepore Ltd., and has served on the North Providence Town Council since 2018.
Autiello did not immediately return inquiries for comment Tuesday.
The 42-year-old town council president formerly worked for the Rhode Island Senate as a policy analyst and deputy director of constituent services, and he was one of the pallbearers at Ruggerio’s funeral Mass. He now serves as director of community and government relations for the University of Rhode Island Foundation.
Another potential Democratic candidate is Lenny Cioe, a nurse at Blackstone Valley Community Health Center who unsuccessfully challenged Ruggerio in the last three Democratic primaries.
“Right now I am putting together a team,” Cioe, 65, said Tuesday. “I have to give it a lot of thought. But I haven’t made a final decision yet.”
No Republican candidates have emerged so far.
The district is nearly evenly split between registered Democrats and independents, who comprise 45% and 44%, respectively, of its 22,300 registered voters as of May, according to data from the Rhode Island Department of State. The remaining 11% of voters are registered Republicans.
Voters have until June 8 to register or disaffiliate, ahead of the July 8 primary election. Early voting is set to begin June 18, running through July 7.
State lawmakers serve two-year terms and make $19,817 a year.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
