PROVIDENCE ― Just 43 of the 113 General Assembly seats were contested on Tuesday, as Rhode Island voters had fewer choices amid a drop in Democratic primaries and Republican candidates. But here are the results of some of the Assembly races that drew significant attention.
In House District 39, Democrat Megan L. Cotter will defeat Republican Justin K. Price in a rematch of their 2022 contest, a race that saw Cotter edge Price by a mere 32 votes. With all polling places reporting, Cotter had 53.8 percent of the vote, while Price had 46.1 percent, according to unofficial results that included mail ballots.
Cotter thanked supporters on social media. “Tonight, our community has spoken loud and clear, choosing a path forward that builds on our shared values of trust, integrity, and progress,” she said. “I’m deeply honored and grateful for your support and faith in me to continue representing our district.”
“Together, we’ve made real strides,” Cotter wrote, “securing resources for our schools, protecting our local environment, expanding healthcare access, and ensuring our communities thrive. None of this would have been possible without you.”
Republicans were hoping to reclaim the rural district, which includes all of Richmond, most of Exeter, and a slice of Hopkinton.
Going into Election Day, the 38-member Senate included five Republicans, and the 75-member House included nine Republicans and one independent. By the end of Election Day, it appeared the GOP will lose one seat in the Senate and pick up one seat in the House, leaving it with 14 of the 113 Assembly seats.
Price previously represented the district for eight years, and Donald Trump won two of the three towns in 2020 — beating President Biden in Exeter and Hopkinton while coming within three votes of Biden in Richmond. But Democrats rallied behind Cotter, giving her a fundraising advantage of $17,200 to $5,077 in the final days of the campaign.
The race attracted attention in part because Price acknowledged he marched to the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and espoused the debunked conspiracy theory that Antifa was to blame for the ensuing riot. In a series of tweets, Price said he “marched to the Capitol” with “peaceful patriots” but said he didn’t enter the Capitol and claimed Antifa “false flagged” the “Trump rally.”
In House District 42, Republican Richard R. Fascia will defeat Democrat Kelsey K. Coletta in a race to represent Johnston. Fascia had 54.7 percent of the vote and Coletta had 45.1 percent, with all polling places reporting and mail ballots included.
Coletta was the only Democrat to knock off a House incumbent in the September primaries when the progressive challenger squeaked by Representative Edward T. Cardillo Jr. by 29 votes. Cardillo’s nephew, Dennis D. Cardillo Jr., finished third in the race. Coletta is the daughter of House Majority Floor Manager John G. “Jay” Edwards, a Tiverton Democrat.
In House District 53, Republican Paul M. Santucci will defeat Democrat Bernard A. Hawkins in a district that includes Smithfield and part of Glocester. Santucci received 55.3 percent of the vote while Hawkins received 44.4 percent, with all polling places and mail ballots included.
Hawkins was attempting to reclaim the House seat he held before losing to Republican Brian J. Rea by 58 votes in 2022. Rea announced he would not seek reelection as his family deals with a medical challenge. Santucci is president of the Smithfield Town Council.
In House District 15, Republican Christopher G. Paplauskas held a 49-vote lead over Democrat Maria A. Bucci in Cranston. Paplauskas had 50.2 percent of the vote while Bucci had 49.6 percent, with all polling places reporting but mail ballots not included.
They were vying to replace Representative Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung, a Cranston Republican who lost a bitter GOP mayoral primary to Cranston Mayor Kenneth J. Hopkins in September. Bucci is a former Cranston mayoral candidate, and Paplauskas is a Cranston City Council member.
In Senate District 8, Democrat Lori Urso will win the seat that Senator Sandra C. Cano vacated to take a job with the Small Business Association. Urso had 64.3 percent of the vote, while independent candidate Cathyann Palocsik had 34.7 percent, with all polling places reporting and mail ballots included.
In September, the Board of Elections voted to reject Palocsik’s challenge to the state Democratic Party’s nomination of Urso to replace Cano in the state Senate District 8 race.
Palocsik claimed state law required the Senate District 8 Democratic Committee to nominate Urso, but that the Rhode Island Democratic State Committee made the nomination instead. She asked the board to nullify Urso’s nomination. But the Board of Elections concluded state law allowed the Democratic State Committee to pick replacements for “state officers,” including state senators and representatives.
In Senate District 26, Democrat Todd M. Patalano will defeat Republican Jennifer Caputi to represent Cranston. Patalano had 57.3 percent while Caputi had 42.4 percent, with all polling places reporting and mail ballots included.
They were vying to replace Senator Frank S. Lombardi, a Cranston Democrat who announced in June that he would not seek reelection after 12 years in office.
Patalano has been a member of the Cranston Police Department since 1995 and has risen through the ranks of the department to become a major and second in command, and he received Lombardi’s support. Caputi, who owns the Caputi Law firm in Garden City Center, has said Rhode Island “is being taken over by liberal social agendas.”
In Senate District 29, Democrat Peter A. Appollonio Jr. was clinging to a 23-vote lead over Senator Anthony P. DeLuca II, a Warwick Republican. Mail ballots pushed Appollonio past DeLuca at midnight, leaving him with 50 percent of the vote to 48.8 percent for DeLuca.
Former Senate Majority Leader Michael J. McCaffrey, a Warwick Democrat, held that seat for 28 years before he stepped down in 2022. DeLuca beat Jennifer T. Rourke, a co-founder of the Rhode Island Political Cooperative, in the 2022 general election. Appollonio, who spent 24 years in the West Warwick Police Department, beat Rourke in September’s Democratic primary to reach the matchup with DeLuca.
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.