7 Things to Know About Primary Night 2020

Senate President Ruggerio Race Still in Question

Senate President Dominick Ruggerio was trailing most of the night on the machine count, but took the lead over upstart Democratic challenger Lenny Cioe and leads 53.6% to 46.4% — or just 159 votes.

Ruggerio’s team tells GoLocal they estimate there are 1,100 outstanding votes.

Ruggerio did not claim victory Tuesday night — he said in a statement, “I appreciate the support of my constituents and neighbors and I look forward to continuing to represent them at the State House. This has been an unprecedented election because of the challenges of Covid19 and many voters have chosen to vote by mail. Every vote matters whether it is cast in person or by mail."

“I’m confident that once every ballot is counted I will prevail in this election. That said, I want to respect the process and will wait for every ballot to be counted," he added. "Claiming victory tonight would be disrespectful to my constituents and a disservice to the Democratic process. We look forward to tomorrow’s final count.” 

Powerful Senate Finance Chair Conley Losing Badly

Senator Bill Conley is losing 70% to 30% to challenger Cynthia Mendes in Senate District 18, which represents parts of East Providence and Pawtucket. 

Conley as a private attorney was the public face for Marshall Development's plans to turn Metacomet Country Club into retail, hotel, and office space -- three things that there is little demand for right now.

If the numbers hold, it would be a big loss for the Ruggerio leadership team in the Senate.

Mattiello Gets A Win, but Has Many Loses

For House Speaker Nick Mattiello, it was a rough night. It appears that he will lose a number of key supporters, including Representatives Dan McKiernan and Raymond Johnston. 

Mattiello himself was unopposed but garnered just 390 votes. In contrast, his GOP opponent Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung collected 878 votes, setting up one of November's biggest showdowns. 

Mattiello's one win was the one of his biggest critic Moira Jayne Walsh was defeated.

Cranston Blowout on GOP Side for Mayor

Everyone predicted that the battle between Council President Mike Farina and Councilor Ken Hopkins would be close.

Farina was not just the GOP endorsed candidate, he had the endorsements of both police and fire unions, and he had a big-money advantage over Hopkins. 

Hopkins was supported by Mayor Allan Fung. Farina had ties to Speaker Nick Mattiello and the lawyer for the developer of the proposed Costco, John Bolton.

Hopkins trounced Farina on Tuesday winning 75% of the vote. 

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Cranston Democrats Too Close to Call

On the Democratic side in Cranson, it is too close to call in the mayoral primary. 

There may be more than 3,000 votes still to be counted. As of Wednesday morning, former Councilor Maria Bucci leads Councilor Steve Stycos 51.4% to 44.3%, with third candidate Adam Cabone netting 4.3%.

The outstanding ballots leave the race much in question.

Another Conley Loss

State Senator Bill Conley was not the only member of the family to have a rough night.

His son Dylan took on 20-year Congressional veteran  Jim Langevin and was beaten back 65% to 35%.

Langevin's margin was bigger than his win in 2016 over two Democratic challengers.

Final Results in a Coronavirus World

This year was different.

In past years, nearly all of the primary outcomes would be determined on primary night with just a few close contest awaiting final paper ballot counts and some facing recounts because of the close margins.

Final race results may not be known until the end of the week and there is the potential for some races not to be determined until next week. 

Get ready for a crazy November election.