PROVIDENCE — The Democrats who dominate Rhode Island’s General Assembly on Thursday voted to maintain the legislative leadership teams headed by House Speaker Christopher R. Blazejewski and Senate President Valarie J. Lawson for another two years.
Last year, the ranks of Senate Democrats were divided by a leadership battle that followed the death of Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio, a North Providence Democrat.
But this year, the competing camps came together, emphasizing the importance of unity in the wake a blue wave that swept Republicans from office around the country and in the General Assembly.
Senate Democrats voted 36 to 0 to endorse Lawson, an East Providence Democrat, as Senate president for a two-year term. While the Senate president is elected by the entire chamber, the 38-member Senate will include just two Republicans next year, so the outcome is clear.
Senate Democrats also voted 36 to 0 to keep Senator Frank A. Ciccone III, a Providence Democrat, as majority leader.
“As we prepare for the upcoming session, I want to take a moment to speak about the importance of unity,” Ciccone said. “Now, I know a lot of you don’t expect this from me,” he said as an aside.
But, he said, “Unity is greater than our individual ambitions, our political differences, and any disagreements that may divide us.”
Unity does not mean that senators must always agree with each other, Ciccone said. But, he said, “We accomplish more when we work together — when we recognize that a good idea is a good idea, regardless of where it comes from.”
In a sign of unity, Ciccone was nominated by Senator Jonathon Acosta, a Central Falls Democrat who last year backed a rival leadership team headed by Senator Ryan W. Pearson, a Cumberland Democrat.
“If you asked me just about a year and a half ago, when we were in the same room, I’d probably be just as surprised as you would,” Acosta said in nominating Ciccone. “But the events of the last few months and of this last week in particular demand that I, as an individual, and we, as a chamber, rise to the occasion.”
The “affordability crisis” demands a response from people in elected office across the country, he said, ticking off challenges Rhode Island faces in housing, health care, education, and climate change.
“In our chamber, where we hold a supermajority that has just increased by two, we need to rise to that challenge together as a group,” Acosta said. If Democrats work together to address those problems, they’ll be reelected not because of a rejection of Republican policies, but “as an endorsement of the work that we do,” he said.
Acosta was one of 10 Democratic senators who signed a statement saying they were inspired by the “historic Democratic gains” in Tuesday’s elections.
“Those wins were a clear repudiation of the failed policies that enrich the few, and a mandate to use our skills and power to solve the challenges that make it more and more difficult for people to lead happy, healthy lives in our state,” they said.
Facing those challenges, they said they joined their Democratic colleagues to support the Lawson and Ciccone leadership team “in meeting this moment.”
Lawson outlined areas the Senate will focus on in 2027, including the impact of private equity in health care.
“At Fatima and Roger Williams Hospitals — and across the border at Steward Hospitals in Massachusetts — we have seen the chaos private equity can cause in health care,” she said. “We will explore ways to address the impact of individuals losing Medicaid due to federal policy changes. We will work to stabilize hospitals.”
Later in the evening, House Democrats unanimously backed keeping Blazejewski as House speaker, and reelected Katherine S. Kazarian, an East Providence Democrat, as majority leader.
The full House, including Republicans, is expected to reelect Blazejewski when the 2027 legislative session begins on Jan. 5. The 75-member House will contain 66 Democrats, eight Republicans, and one independent.
“Leader Kazarian and I are humbled to earn the support of our Democratic colleagues,” Blazejewski said. “As parents of young children, we both understand how expensive it is to raise a family right now.”
Blazejewski said the 2027 session will be challenging. “Our state is facing significant concerns, especially in the areas of health care and education,” he said. “I expect those issues will be among those at the top of our agenda this session.”
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.