Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island

State Executives
Current Governors
Gubernatorial Elections
	2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014
Current Lt. Governors
Lt. Governor Elections
	2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014

	Rhode Island Lieutenant Governor
	; ; ;
	General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
Compensation:	$137,510
2025 FY Budget:	$1,447,015
Term limits:	Two consecutive terms
	Structure
Length of term:	4 years
Authority:	Rhode Island Constitution, Article IX, Section I
Selection Method:	Elected
	Current Officeholder(s)
	Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island Sabina Matos; Democratic Party; Assumed office: April 14, 2021
	Elections
Next election:	November 3, 2026
Last election:	November 8, 2022
	Other Rhode Island Executive Offices
	Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Superintendent of Education • Agriculture Commissioner • Insurance Commissioner • Natural Resources Commissioner • Labor Commissioner • Public Service Commission

The Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island is an elected constitutional officer, the second ranking office of the executive branch and the first officer in line to succeed the Governor of Rhode Island. The lieutenant governor is popularly elected every four years by a plurality and is limited to two consecutive terms.^[1]

Current officeholder

See also: Current Lieutenant Governors

The current Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island is Sabina Matos (D). Matos assumed office in 2021.

Authority

The Rhode Island Constitution establishes the office of lieutenant governor in Article IX, the Executive Department.

Under Article IX, Section I:

The chief executive power of this state shall be vested in a governor, who, together with a lieutenant governor, shall be elected by the people.^[1]

Qualifications

Under Article III, Of Qualification for Office, the lieutenant governor must be:^[1]

a qualified elector of Rhode island
not serving a sentence, on probation or on parole for any felony
not bound by any other oath of office, including holding any other state office or holding a federal office

Elections

See also: Gubernatorial election cycles by state

See also: Election of lieutenant governors

Rhode Island elects lieutenant governors in the midterm elections, that is, even years that are not presidential election years (e.g. 2018, 2022, 2026, 2030). Legally, the lieutenant gubernatorial inauguration is always set for the first Tuesday in the January following an election.^[1]

Term limits

According to Article IV, Section 1 of the state constitution, no person may hold the office of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general or treasurer for more than two consecutive four-year terms.^[1]

Rhode Island Constitution, Article IV, Section 1 (partial):

“

...No person shall serve consecutively in the same general office for more than two (2) full terms, excluding any partial term of less than two (2) years previously served...^[2]

”

2022

See also: Rhode Island lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2022

General election

General election for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island

Incumbent Sabina Matos defeated Aaron Guckian and Ross McCurdy in the general election for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island on November 8, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Sabina Matos (D)	51.2	180,909
	Aaron Guckian (R)	43.1	152,458
	Ross McCurdy (Independent)	5.5	19,507
	Other/Write-in votes	0.2	608

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 353,482
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Keith Harrison (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island

Incumbent Sabina Matos defeated Deborah Ruggiero and Cynthia Mendes in the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island on September 13, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Sabina Matos	47.1	50,704
	Deborah Ruggiero	33.1	35,620
	Cynthia Mendes	19.8	21,304

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 107,628
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Larry Valencia (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island

Aaron Guckian defeated Paul Pence in the Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island on September 13, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Aaron Guckian	67.7	13,427
	Paul Pence	32.3	6,396

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 19,823
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.