2022 election in Rhode Island: results, news, and analysis

By Thursday afternoon, as more mail ballots and provisional ballots were counted, Cotter gained a 29-vote lead ahead of Price, with an unofficial tally by the state Board of Elections of 3,024 to 2,995. (Independent Sean Patrick Comella now has 670 votes.) Most of the mail ballots counted after the Nov. 8 election were votes for Cotter. Nationwide, Democrats have used mail ballots more often than Republicans, ever since then-president Donald J. Trump spread falsehoods about the security of voting and misrepresented issues with mail ballots during the 2020 election.

Still, Price said Friday, “It seems kind of odd that it’s not split like the election has been going... it seems a little out of balance.” He said he plans to request a recount. Read more.

PROVIDENCE — Since its founding, Rhode Island had never elected a state legislator who identified as Asian American. But on Tuesday, it elected not just one, but two Asian Americans to the state Senate.

Linda L. Ujifusa, a Portsmouth Democrat, won the Senate District 11 seat that Democratic Senator James A. Seveney is vacating. And Victoria Gu, a Charlestown Democrat, won the Senate District 38 seat that Senate Republican leader Dennis L. Algiere is vacating. Read more.

The candidates have had their fun. Now it’s time to announce the real winners of the 2022 Rhode Island elections.

We received more than 300 entries for the Rhode Map Pick ‘Em contest, which asked you to choose the results of 87 different races, including all the federal, statewide, and general election matchups. We also asked you to take a guess on turnout and the approval numbers for the statewide bond questions.

One winner has emerged, with no tiebreaker necessary. Read more.

PROVIDENCE — A handful of candidates who pledged to oppose efforts to teach “divisive race-based or gender-based theory” in public schools got a toe-hold Tuesday on town councils and school committees, mostly in Rhode Island’s conservative southwest corner. But many were largely rejected by voters.

The candidates who won their races were among more than two dozen for local and state office who signed a pledge with Parents United RI, part of a national organization that says it stands for “parental rights” against “extreme race and sex-based theories” and “government-sanctioned student indoctrination.” The Rhode Island group says it is a “stark contrast to the progressive-socialists” with the Rhode Island Political Cooperative and the Working Families Party. Read more.

RICHMOND, R.I. — An incumbent GOP legislator is expected to request a recount, after unofficial results show a progressive Democrat beating him by four votes

State Rep. Justin K. Price, who represents District 39, had faced calls for his resignation last year after he marched to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and tweeted conspiracy theories blaming antifascists for the deadly violence. This year, he lagged in fundraising in his re-election campaign, for the first time since running in 2014.

Price, who is a member of four House committees, received 2,985 votes on Election Day. He was edged out by Democrat Megan Cotter, who received 2,989 votes. Cotter had come within about 320 votes of Price in the 2020 election. Read more.

Globe columnist Dan McGowan and Jim Hummel, the host of “A Lively Experiment” on Rhode Island PBS, join Edward Fitzpatrick on the Rhode Island Report podcast to analyze Democrat Seth Magaziner’s big win over Republican Allan W. Fung in the Second Congressional District.

In this episode — the first in a collaborative partnership between the public television station and Globe Rhode Island — Hummel, McGowan, and Fitzpatrick also dive into Democratic Governor Daniel J. McKee’s rout of Republican challenger Ashley Kalus in the governor’s race and other highlights of Tuesday’s elections. Read more.

NEW SHOREHAM, R.I. — After a tumultuous summer during which his company temporarily lost its liquor and entertainment licenses after fights broke out at the venue and on the Block Island Ferry, Ballard’s Beach Resort owner Steven Filippi may have lost his unopposed bid for a town council seat.

The businessman, who was on the ballot, received just 92 votes, while more than 1,050 people wrote-in alternative candidates. The three candidates with the most votes will win the three open seats on the Block Island Town Council, which also serves as the island’s licensing board.

Rhode Island Board of Elections spokesman Chris Hunter said the town is expected to send the full results sometime on Wednesday. Read more.

PROVIDENCE — Republicans expect to request recounts in three state House of Representatives races, Rhode Island Republican Party chair Sue Cienki said Wednesday.

Republicans went into Tuesday’s elections hoping to add to the 15 seats they hold in the 113-member General Assembly. But despite hopes of riding a national “red wave” in the midterm elections, it appears the GOP will end up with 14 total Assembly seats, including five in the Senate and nine in the House. Read more.

PROVIDENCE — On Election Day, six Rhode Island towns voted against allowing recreational marijuana shops within their borders.

In all, 31 of Rhode Island’s 39 cities and towns had ballot questions asking voters whether they should allow the sale or cultivation of recreational marijuana within their borders.

In those communities, the ballot asked: “Shall new cannabis related licenses for businesses involved in the cultivation, manufacture, laboratory testing and for the retail sale of adult recreational use cannabis be issued in (that municipality)?”

These six towns said “no.” Read more.

PROVIDENCE — Republican Allan Fung conceded to Democrat Seth Magaziner in Rhode Island’s Second Congressional District.

This year, 66 Republicans ran for the 113 General Assembly seats, marking a 57 percent increase over the 42 Republicans who ran in 2020.

Rhode Island Republican Party Chair Sue Cienki had acknowledged the GOP probably wouldn’t achieve its long-term goal of gaining the one-third of House or Senate seats needed to block a state budget proposal. But she said Republicans were able to field more candidates this year because of a “vigorous” recruitment effort and because, she said, people are fed up.

Rhode Island Democratic Party Chair Joseph M. McNamara had contended that Democrats would take all five statewide general offices while returning a Democratic majority to both the House and Senate. And he said the goal was to reduce the already small number of Republicans in each legislative chamber. Read more.

PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island voters overwhelmingly approved $400 million in new spending Tuesday for the University of Rhode Island, K-12 public schools, and green infrastructure, the Associated Press projects.

The three questions on the ballot included a $100 million bond for improvements to URI’s Narragansett Bay Campus, $250 million for school repairs across many cities and towns, and $50 million for environmental initiatives and recreation projects, including a new Roger Williams Park Zoo facility.

There was little opposition to the bond questions, which have a strong track record of winning approval during statewide elections. Read more.

PROVIDENCE — Democratic former Central Falls Mayor James A. Diossa won the state treasurer’s race on Tuesday, defeating Republican James L. Lathrop, North Kingstown’s finance director, the Associated Press projects.

With 98 percent of polling places reporting, Diossa had 54 percent to Lathrop’s 45.9 percent, according to the state Board of Elections.

Diossa will succeed Seth Magaziner, a term-limited Democrat who ran for Rhode Island’s Second Congressional District seat.

“I promise I will not let you down,” Diossa said while celebrating at the Graduate Providence Hotel. Read more.

PROVIDENCE – Democratic incumbent Governor Dan McKee, who inherited Rhode Island’s top job 20 months ago and has guided the state through the second half of the COVID-19 pandemic, is projected by the Associated Press to win a full four-year term Tuesday, defeating Republican newcomer Ashley Kalus.

With 90 percent of precincts reporting, McKee had 56 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results from the state Board of Elections. Read More.

PROVIDENCE — In a race that drawing national attention, Democrat Seth Magaziner is leading Republican Allan W. Fungcq in the battle for Rhode Island’s Second Congressional District seat, which has been in Democratic hands for more than three decades.

With 93 percent of polling places reporting, Magaziner had 50.9 percent, Fung had 46.4 percent, and Moderate Party candidate William H. Gilbertcq had 2.7 percent, according to the state Board of Elections.

Democrats have held the Second Congressional District since Republican Representative Claudine Schneider left office in January 1991, and Rhode Island has not elected a Republican to the US House since Representative Ronald K. Machtley stepped down from the First Congressional District seat in January 1995. -- Ed Fitzpatrick

PROVIDENCE — Democrats maintained their stranglehold on Rhode Island’s top legal office Tuesday, as Attorney General Peter Neronha as projected by the Associated Press to cruise to another four-year term.

Neronha, a former US attorney who was elected in 2018, easily defeated Republican Charles Calenda in a race where the two candidates rarely met face to face. Democrats have held the attorney’s general’s office since 1999.

With 93 percent of precincts reporting, Neronha had 59.7 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results from the state Board of Elections. Read more.

PROVIDENCE — Democratic state Representative Gregg M. Amore swept to victory in secretary of state’s race on Tuesday, defeating Republican Pat V. Cortellessa, according to an Associated Press projection.

With 93 percent of polling places reporting, Amore had 57.7 percent, while Cortellessa had 42.1 percent, according to the state Board of Elections. Those results did not include mail ballots.

Amore, an East Providence Democrat, will succeed Nellie M. Gorbea, a term-limited Democrat who finished third in September’s Democratic primary for governor. Read more.

The polls in Rhode Island closed at 8 p.m. You can follow the results here.

PROVIDENCE — About an hour before the polls closed on Election Day, Rhode Island General Treasurer Seth Magaziner said he knew the stakes in the race for Rhode Island’s Second Congressional District seat couldn’t be higher.

On every issue, “We are on the side of Rhode Islanders,” said Magaziner, who said he has felt confident in taking on his opponent Republican Allan W. Fung. “[Voters] are going to choose to keep this seat in the Democratic column so we can continue sending Rhode Island values to Washington.” Read more.

On the Rhode Island Report podcast, Governor Dan McKee responds to issues raised during the gubernatorial campaign and talks about the campaign ad in which he plays cards with his 94-year-old mother.

Back in the day, Republican gubernatorial candidate Ashley Kalus was a serious boxer. She even won a Golden Gloves championship in 2001. These days, she trains at a gym in West Warwick. Ed dropped by to learn a few moves from Kalus’s coach – and to let her take a swing at some policy questions.

CRANSTON, R.I. — Out since dawn for a long day of crisscrossing the 2nd Congressional District for last-minute votes, former Cranston mayor Allan W. Fung arrived at his polling place at Hope Highlands School late Tuesday morning to a sort of homecoming.

Fung and his wife, state Representative Barbara Fenton-Fung, were greeted by volunteers and well-wishers, buoyed by recent polling giving him the edge in the Congressional race. “I feel better in this election cycle than in ‘14 and ‘18,” Fung told reporters outside the school. “We’ve shaken a lot of hands, we’ve been at people’s doors, at the fairs and festivals, and just talking to voters, I feel good about today.”

This race for the seat vacated by US Representative James Langevin has captivated national attention, as a Boston Globe/Suffolk University poll in October showed Fung leading Democrat Seth Magaziner, the current state treasurer, which could mean flipping a seat that’s been held by Democrats for more than 30 years. Read more.

A new documentary, “No Time to Fail,” offers an unprecedented look at what it took to keep Rhode Island elections running in 2020, at a time of escalating partisan attacks on ballot workers nationwide. Ed Fitzpatrick spoke with the film’s directors and two election officials at a recent screening at the GlobeDocs Film Festival.

Rhode Island’s Second Congressional District isn’t exactly known for sending Republicans to Washington. The last time the GOP represented the district, which includes Cranston and parts of Providence, was over 30 years ago, and Democratic candidates for president tend to win by double digits there. Yet this time around, the race to replace the retiring Democratic incumbent, Representative James Langevin, is, unexpectedly, a dead heat.

And while the Republican candidate, former Cranston Mayor Allan Fung, has proved to be a formidable candidate with many positive qualities, the Democrat in the race, state Treasurer Seth Magaziner, is still better suited to serve Rhode Island’s Second District, and voters should send him to Congress. Read more.

The big races we’re watching in Rhode Island today are the 2nd Congressional District matchup between Republican Allan Fung and Democratic state Treasurer Seth Magaziner, and the governor’s race between Democratic incumbent Dan McKee and Republican Ashley Kalus.

Our team will have full coverage all night, and I’ll be doing a live hit with WPRO-AM at some point during the night. We’ll also have a special podcast wrapping up the results airing tomorrow. Here are a few things to watch today: Read more.

Looking past the 2nd Congressional District, there are contested races for every statewide office and the US House in the 1st District.

The races for Lieutenant Governor, General Treasurer, Attorney General, Secretary of State, and US House — 1st District have flown under the radar, so here’s a quick guide to who’s running for which office. Read more.

More than 40 percent of likely Rhode Island voters say the cost of living is the most important issue in the race for governor, a Boston Globe/Suffolk University poll found, far outpacing other issues like abortion rights, education, housing, and health care.

The survey of 800 likely voters showed 44 percent of voters considered cost of living the top issue in the race this fall, up nearly 12 percentage points from June, when a Globe/Suffolk poll found that 32.5 percent of voters picked cost of living as their top issue. Read more.

It’s the race everyone in Rhode Island is buzzing about, and politicos around the country are keeping their eyes on.

Republican Allan Fung and Democratic state Treasurer Seth Magaziner have been trading barbs for most of 2022 as they seek to succeed US Representative James Langevin in Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District.

If you watch TV, it has been difficult to avoid all the commercials in this race. If you don’t watch TV, you deserve a medal. Here’s a link to the ads in the governor’s race. Read more.

It’s worth taking a look at some of the campaign ads they’ve been putting out over the last couple of months.

Today, we’ve got a look at the ads from the campaigns of Democratic Governor Dan McKee and Republican challenger Ashley Kalus. Tomorrow, we’ll link to the ads in the race for Congress. Read more.

Who won by how much? Which races were uncontested? What happened in which district? Catch up with all of the coverage.

The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022.

Most Rhode Islanders vote in person at their polling places on Election Day. However, the state also permits “no excuse” early voting. Anyone may request a mail-in ballot in the weeks prior to the general election and may drop their mail-in ballot at one of 39 drop box sites prior to the election. In the 20 days leading up to Election Day, it also is permitted to vote early in person at a designated location such as a town hall during regular business hours.

Polls close at 8 p.m. ET.

First results usually come in about 30 minutes after polls close at 8 p.m. ET, and about 92 percent of votes are tabulated by noon the next day. That is because Rhode Island election officials are allowed to pre-process and sort mail-in ballots and early in-person ballots that arrive prior to Election Day, making for a speedy vote count after the polls close. Mail-in ballots must arrive by close of polling on Election Day, but mail-in ballots sent from overseas may be counted later if the voter can show the ballot was sent prior to Election Day.

Provisional ballots are tabulated last, if they are approved. A provisional ballot may be cast by a person whose legal right to vote has been challenged, perhaps because they had a signature mismatch, they are not listed correctly on the voter rolls or if their address has changed, if they can provide the evidence that they are indeed eligible.

As of Oct. 28, approximately 34,000 advance ballots had been cast, counting mail-in ballots and early in-person voting, out of 715,000 registered eligible voters The number of advance ballots was expected to rise steeply in the days before the election.

You can find all of the election results on globe.com/RI.

Rhode Island has no mandatory recount law. A recount may be requested by a second-place candidate in close races seven days after the declaration of official results, with the rules for obtaining a recount dependent on the total number of votes cast for the office and the closeness of the margin. For instance, the margin should be under 2 percent, or 200 votes, in races with under 20,000 votes cast, and under 0.5 percent, or 1,500 votes, for races with greater than 100,000 votes.

Rhode Island’s governor signed the “Let RI Vote Act” in June, codifying many of the changes implemented during the pandemic to provide voters more options for voting, either by mail, early or in person on Election Day. Prior to 2020, residents voting early used an emergency mail ballot that was processed as such. Now they put a paper ballot into a voting machine like they would if they went to a polling station in-person on Election Day. The state is also using new accessible ballot-marking machines for voters with disabilities.

Globe Correspondent Kayla Guo contributed to this report.