McKee Names Another Conservative — Nominates Montalbano to Serve as Chief Justice of Superior Court

McKee Names Another Conservative — Nominates Montalbano to Serve as Chief Justice of Superior Court

Governor Dan McKee announced that he was nominating Superior Court Judge Joseph Montalbano to serve as Chief Justice.

He will need to be confirmed by the Senate and is expected to receive support from Senate President Val Lawson, who lobbied for his appointment.

This is McKee's second conservative appointment in recent months.

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He had nominated Michael McCaffrey, who has an anti-women and anti-LGBTQ voting record, as Senate Majority Leader to the district court. McCaffrey was confirmed by the Senate last month.

Montalbano was selected over Superior Court Judges Richard Licht and David Cruise. 

Both were considered far more progressive as elected officials. Licht served in the Senate and as Rhode Island's Lt. Governor, and Cruise served as a State Senator and in a range of other top political appointments.

Montalbano, as a Senator, was considered conservative on a range of issues.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee announced in 2013 his nomination of then-District Court Magistrate and former Senate President Montalbano as associate justice of the Rhode Island Superior Court, to fill the seat vacated by Justice Francis Darigan Jr.

Montalbano, a North Providence resident and Pawtucket native, lost his 2008 bid for re-election to the Senate District 17 seat, representing Lincoln, Pawtucket, and North Providence.

If confirmed, Montalbano will succeed Alice Gibney, who retired in 2025.