2012 elections preview: Rhode Island voters to select winners in congressional, legislative primaries

September 10, 2012

By Ballotpedia's Congressional and State legislative teams

The primary season continues tomorrow with elections in Delaware, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.

Here's is happening in Rhode Island, where most polls open at 7:00 AM and all polls close at 8:00 PM EST.

Contested Primaries in Rhode Island-- September 11, 2012
	U.S. House (2 seats)	State Legislature (113 seats)
Total Democratic Contested Primaries	2 (100%)	43 (38%)
Total Republican Contested Primaries	2 (100%)	5 (4%)

Congress

U.S. Senate

United States Senate elections in Rhode Island, 2012

There are no contested primaries in Rhode Island's U.S. Senate race tomorrow. Democratic incumbent Sheldon Whitehouse and Republican challenger Barry Hinckley are both running unopposed in their primaries. Todd Giroux, Dany LaPorte, Christopher D. Reynolds, and David J. Slavin are running as Independent candidates. In addition, Gregory Raposa is running for the Vigilant Fox Party.

U.S. House

United States House of Representatives elections in Rhode Island, 2012

Rhode Island has two congressional seats on the ballot in 2012. A total of 16 candidates filed to run, made up of 4 Democratic challengers, 6 Republican challengers, 2 incumbents, and 4 third-party candidates. Including states with primaries tomorrow, a total of 429 U.S. House seats have held primaries. Thus far, 55.01% of possible primaries have been contested. Rhode Island's contested figure of 100% (4 out of 4 possible party primaries) is much more competitive than the national average.

• 1st Congressional District: Incumbent David N. Cicilline faces a primary challenge from Ann Marie Delaney, Anthony Gemma and Christopher Young in the Democratic primary. There are two candidates running in the Republican primary, Brendan Doherty and Michael J. Donahue as well as three independent candidates, C. Michael Blake, Kenneth A. Capalbo and David S. Vogel
• 2nd Congressional District: Incumbent James R. Langevin faces a primary challenge from John Matson in the Democratic primary. There are four candidates running in the Republican primary, Michael J. Gardiner, Michael G. Riley, Donald F. Robbio and Kara D. Russo. Abel G. Collins is the only independent who filed to run in the 2nd District.

Members of the U.S. House from Rhode Island-- Partisan Breakdown
Party		As of November 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	2	2
	Republican Party	0	0
Total		2	2

State legislature

See also Rhode Island State Senate elections, 2012 and Rhode Island House of Representatives elections, 2012

In Rhode Island, there are 113 total legislative seats with elections in 2012. There are 43 (38%) contested Democratic primaries and 5 (4%) contested Republican primaries. Thus, there are 48 (21%) races with at least two candidates on the ballot. The 21% figure of contested primaries in Rhode Island is higher than the current national contested average of 18.4%.

There are a total of 34 incumbents facing primary opposition -- 32 Democrats and 2 Republicans. Some of the incumbents facing a primary challenge are:

Senate

District 14: Incumbent Daniel Da Ponte (D) is challenged by State Rep. Roberto DaSilva.

District 25: 19 year old University of Rhode Island student Nicole Amelia Acciardo is taking on incumbent Frank Lombardo III.

District 34: Incumbent Francis Maher is faces a challenge from Paul R. Mcfadden.

House

District 8 freshman Michael Tarro (D) faces challenges from Elizabeth Libby Kimzey and John Joseph Lombardi.

District 44: Peter Petrarca faces a stiff challenge from Gregory Costantino.

District 49 incumbent Lisa Baldelli-Hunt (D) is challenged by Stuart Gitlow and Michael Morin.

District 59: Incumbent J. Patrick O'Neill, in office since 2005, faces John Arcaro.

Rhode Island House of Representatives
Party		As of November 5, 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	65	69
	Republican Party	10	6
Total		75	75

Rhode Island State Senate
Party		As of November 5, 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	29	32
	Republican Party	8	5
	Independent	1	1
Total		38	38

See also

• United States Senate elections in Rhode Island, 2012
• United States House of Representatives elections in Rhode Island, 2012
• Rhode Island State Senate elections, 2012
• Rhode Island House of Representatives elections, 2012