PROVIDENCE — As soon as it reconvenes, the Rhode Island Senate will choose a new leader to replace Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio, who died on Monday morning after battling cancer, a spokesman said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Hanna M. Gallo, a Cranston Democrat, will preside when the Senate next convenes, Senate spokesman Greg Pare said. It’s unclear when that will be because funeral arrangements for Ruggerio have not been finalized, he said.
But all Senate business has been cancelled until further notice, including through at least this week, Senate Majority Leader Valarie J. Lawson said at a press briefing on Monday.
Whenever the Senate reconvenes, the first order of business will be to elect a new president, Pare said. And the new leader will be chosen by a simple majority of the full membership, he said.
The 38-member Senate now includes 37 senators – 33 Democrats and four Republicans. So a simple majority requires the winner to secure at least 19 votes.
Senators say the leadership battle involves:
- Senate Majority Leader Valarie J. Lawson, an East Providence Democrat who is president of the National Education Association Rhode Island.
- Former Senate majority leader Ryan W. Pearson, a Cumberland Democrat who previously served as Senate majority leader.
- Senator Frank A. Ciccone III, a Providence Democrat who chairs the Senate Labor & Gaming Committee.
In a tense caucus in November, Senate Democrats voted 23-9 to keep Ruggerio as Senate president as he faced a challenge from Pearson.
That showdown was the end result of a rift that began in March 2024, when Pearson visited Ruggerio’s North Providence home to discuss his health and future plans. Ruggerio, who had been battling cancer and shingles and missed weeks of the legislative session, took offense, and backed Lawson as she sought to oust Pearson as majority leader.
Pearson then launched a challenge to Ruggerio’s leadership, saying the Senate had become “disorganized” and had allowed the House to become “more dominant” when Ruggerio’s health kept him from being in the room for some key decisions during the last legislative session.
The outcome of the Senate leadership battle has clear implications for key pieces of legislation, including the push to ban assault-style weapons in Rhode Island.
As Globe columnist Dan McGowan has noted, Ciccone is a staunch gun rights supporter and former private firearms dealer, and the fear among gun safety advocates is that he would block an assault weapons ban if he became the president. Lawson and Pearson support the ban, which has been proposed by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Louis P. DiPalma, a Middletown Democrat.
Meanwhile, a special election will be held to fill the Senate District 4 seat, which represents portions of North Providence and Providence.
Secretary of State Gregg M. Amore said the election won’t be held before the 2025 legislative session ends in June, because the declaration date would have to be this week to do so.
So Amore said he would expect the election to take place in late summer or early fall. He said his office will be making a recommendation to the state Board of Elections and working with the boards of canvassers in North Providence and Providence to determine a final date.
Last year, Ruggerio won in a landslide in a Democratic primary challenge from Lenny Cioe, a registered nurse who also lost primary challenges to Ruggerio in 2020 and 2022. Ruggerio won 70.3 percent of primary vote in September, and he was unchallenged in November’s general election.
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.