William Walaska
William A. Walaska (b. September 16, 1945) is a former Democratic member of the Rhode Island State Senate, representing District 30 from 1995 to 2017. Walaska was defeated in the primary election held on September 13, 2016.
Biography
Walaska earned his B.A. in economics from Providence College in 1968 and his MBA from Providence College in 1987. He went on to attend the School of Commercial Banking at Williams College in 1973 and studied financial management at Dartmouth College in 1976. His professional experience includes serving as president/CEO of Wal-Corp, Tri-State Automotive Warehouse. Walaska served in the United States Naval Reserves from 1964 to 1968.[1]
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Walaska served on the following committees:
| Rhode Island committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Commerce, Vice-Chair |
| • Environment and Agriculture |
2013-2014
In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Walaska served on the following committees:
| Rhode Island committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Commerce |
| • Environment & Agriculture, Vice Chair |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Walaska served on these committees:
| Rhode Island committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Environment and Agriculture |
| • Housing and Municipal Government |
| • Judiciary |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Walaska served on these committees:
| Rhode Island committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Environment and Agriculture |
| • Finance |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2016
Elections for the Rhode Island State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on September 13, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 29, 2016.
Jeanine Calkin ran unopposed in the Rhode Island State Senate District 30 general election.[2][3]
| Rhode Island State Senate, District 30 General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic |  Jeanine Calkin (unopposed) | |
| Source: Rhode Island Board of Elections | ||
Jeanine Calkin defeated incumbent William Walaska in the Rhode Island State Senate District 30 Democratic primary.[4][5]
| Rhode Island State Senate, District 30 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Jeanine Calkin |
51.78% | 1,092 | |
| Democratic | William Walaska Incumbent | 48.22% | 1,017 | |
| Total Votes | 2,109 | |||
2014
Elections for the Rhode Island State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on September 9, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 25, 2014. Incumbent William Walaska was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Steven Archer ran as an independent candidate. Walaska defeated Archer in the general election.[6][7][8]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | William Walaska Incumbent |
59.7% | 5,554 | |
| Independent | Steven Archer | 40.3% | 3,748 | |
| Total Votes | 9,302 | |||
2012
Walaska won re-election in District 30 and was unopposed in the Democratic primary on September 11. Keith E. Burkitt was unopposed in the Republican primary. Walaska defeated Burkitt and independent Arthur J. Groh Jr. in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[9][10][11]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | William Walaska Incumbent |
61% | 7,585 | |
| Republican | Keith E. Burkitt | 22.4% | 2,790 | |
| Independent | Arthur J. Groh Jr. | 16.4% | 2,041 | |
| Other | Write-in | 0.2% | 20 | |
| Total Votes | 12,436 | |||
2010
Walaska was re-elected to District 30 in 2010. Walaska defeated Republican Armand Lusi in the November 2 general election. He was unopposed in the September 14 Democratic primary.[12][13]
| Rhode Island State Senate, District 30 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| William Walaska (D)
|
5545 | |||
| Armand Lusi (R) | 4129 | |||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Walaska was re-elected to the 30th District Seat in the Rhode Island State Senate. Walaska had no challenger.[14]
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Rhode Island scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2017
In 2017, the Rhode Island General Assembly was in session from January 3 through June 20.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to civil liberties.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Rhode Island General Assembly was in session from January 5 through June 18.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Rhode Island General Assembly was in session from January 6 through June 25.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Rhode Island General Assembly was in session from January 7 to June 23.
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the Rhode Island General Assembly was in session from January 1 to July 5.
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2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the Rhode Island General Assembly was in session from January 3 to June 13.
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2011
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2011, click [show]. |
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In 2011, the Rhode Island General Assembly was in session from January 4 to July 1.
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Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Walaska and his wife, Marsha, have three children.[1]
Noteworthy events
Grants to nonprofit organizations
In 2012, Rhode Island lawmakers issued $1.9 million in legislative grants to nonprofit organizations. These grants were awarded on a nonpartisan basis by House Speaker Gordon Fox and Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed and were chosen based on the merits of the organizations' applications and requests by individual lawmakers. Though the Rhode Island Supreme Court ruled that the legislature has the authority to create grants as part of the budget, some critics called these grants wasteful government spending and said the money could be used to influence votes. Lawmakers in support of the grants claimed that they went to community organizations that were struggling to fill fundraising gaps or make up for a lack of resources that may no longer be available at the municipal level. According to an August 2013 report in Go Local Prov News, Walaska was among the top 25 lawmakers who sponsored the most in grant funding, obtaining $30,750 for community organizations.[16][17]
Recent news
This section displays the most recent stories in a Google News search for the term "William + Walaska + Rhode + Island + Senate"
- All stories may not be relevant to this legislator due to the nature of the search engine.
See also
- Rhode Island State Senate
- Senate Committees
- Rhode Island General Assembly
- Joint Committees
- Rhode Island state legislative districts
External links
- Profile from Open States
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign Contributions via Follow the Money
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Project Vote Smart, "Biography of Sen. William Walaska," accessed June 6, 2014
- ↑ Rhode Island Secretary of State, "2016 Candidate Search," accessed October 5, 2016
- ↑ Rhode Island Board of Elections, "2016 general election results," accessed January 19, 2017
- ↑ Rhode Island Secretary of State, "2016 Candidate Search," accessed June 30, 2016
- ↑ Rhode Island Board of Elections, "2016 Statewide Primary," accessed October 14, 2016
- ↑ Rhode Island Secretary of State, "Candidates for Senator in General Assembly," accessed June 30, 2014
- ↑ Rhode Island Secretary of State, "2014 Statewide Primary Results: Senator in General Assembly," accessed September 26, 2014
- ↑ Rhode Island Board of Elections, "Official 2014 general election results," accessed December 4, 2014
- ↑ Candidates in Upcoming Elections, "Rhode Island Secretary of State," accessed July 5, 2012
- ↑ State of Rhode Island Board of Elections, "2012 Statewide Primary Results," accessed June 6, 2014
- ↑ State of Rhode Island Board of Elections, "2012 Statewide General Election Results," accessed June 6, 2014
- ↑ State of Rhode Island Board of Elections, "2010 Statewide Primary Results," accessed June 6, 2014
- ↑ State of Rhode Island Board of Elections, "2010 Statewide General Election Results," accessed June 6, 2014
- ↑ State of Rhode Island Board of Elections, "2008 Statewide General Election Results," accessed June 6, 2014
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 Warwick Online, "Rep. Morgan scores top on 'subjective' House Freedom Index," May 31, 2016
- ↑ Go Local Prov News, "RI Lawmakers Shell Out $1.9M in Controversial Legislative Grants," August 15, 2013
- ↑ Go Local Prov News, "Top 25 RI Legislators Who Got The Most Grants," August 15, 2013
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by ' |
Rhode Island State Senate District 30 1995–2017 |
Succeeded by Jeanine Calkin (D) |
