EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — The declaration of candidacy period for candidates seeking elected office in Rhode Island is now over.
Starting Monday and until the deadline of Wednesday at 4 p.m., candidates seeking office filed paperwork to make their campaigns official.
Some additional candidate filings could appear Thursday based on when they were received and where they were filled out.
Now that the filing period is over, here are six things to know before candidates begin gathering signatures for ballot placement.
Familiar faces
Multiple former elected officials are seeking a comeback for seats they once held in the General Assembly.
Former Republican state Rep. Justin Price is running for his old seat this year. He lost in what was the closest General Assembly race in 2022, losing to now-state Rep. Megan Cotter by 32 votes.
Price faced controversy and calls to resign during his last term after he attended then-President Trump’s rally in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, and made controversial comments about that day’s events. (He has said he didn’t enter the U.S. Capitol.)
Cotter, a Democrat, has filed to seek reelection. If both candidates win their primaries, this will be their third time running against each other after Price won their first contest in 2020.
Another former legislator eyeing a comeback is Democrat Jean Philippe Barros. Barros was unseated in House District 59 by now-state Rep. Jennifer Stewart in a primary last election cycle.
Stewart, who is seeking reelection, was one of the Rhode Island Political Cooperative’s candidates that year.
Former state Rep. Jim McLaughlin is running for his old seat, House District 57, as well. McLaughlin lost by 34 votes to now-state Rep. Brandon Voas in a Democratic primary last cycle.
This time, however, McLaughlin is running as an independent. He initially filed on Monday to run against R.I. Senate Majority Leader Ryan Pearson in District 19, a seat he’d told 12 News in May he would seek.
Then on Tuesday, McLaughlin withdrew from that race and switched to run against Voas, who is seeking reelection.
Former longtime Democratic state Rep. Anastasia Williams is also running for her old seat, House District 9. She lost to now-state Rep. Enrique Sanchez in a Democratic primary last election cycle.
Democrats Lesley Bunnell and Santos Javier have also filed to run in District 9.
Lisa Baldelli-Hunt is not running for office
Former Woonsocket Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt announced in a statement two hours before the filing deadline came that she won’t be running for office this year.
In her statement, Baldelli-Hunt explained that she has a heart procedure scheduled for this summer.
On Monday, Baldelli-Hunt told 12 News she was mulling a run against state Rep. Jon Brien for House District 49, which she represented at one time.
The former mayor, who resigned in November of last year, had a poll conducted recently to see how she was viewed by voters.
Her campaign also sent out a mailer to residents touting her accomplishments as mayor and re-emphasized that the reason she stepped down was health issues. But Brien had argued she would face blowback from voters over a controversial land deal that Target 12 revealed last year.
Mayoral races
There are a few mayoral races this year that political analysts will be keeping an eye on.
The first is in the state’s second-largest city, Cranston.
Mayor Ken Hopkins, a Republican, is facing a primary challenge from state Rep. Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung, wife of former Mayor Allan Fung.
This primary has been heated from the start.
On Tuesday, Fenton-Fung sent a letter sent to the Cranston GOP saying she won’t seek the committee’s endorsem*nt while criticizing recent Republican election losses in the city.
Hopkins’ campaign fired back with a statement that alleged Fenton-Fung knew she wasn’t going to get that endorsem*nt regardless.
Democrat Robert Ferri, a citywide councilman, is also running and faces no primary opponents.
In Warwick, Mayor Frank Picozzi will have an opponent this time around as he seeks reelection.
The vice-chair of the Warwick School Committee, Leah Hazelwood, filed her paperwork to run for mayor on Wednesday.
Picozzi was unopposed in 2022 and first became the city’s chief executive after unseating then-Mayor Joseph Solomon in 2020.
Independents John Ritchie and Patrick Maloney Jr also filed on Wednesday to run.
Candidates for mayor in Warwick will also be running for a four-year term for the very first time due to recent changes approved by voters.
In Pawtucket, Mayor Don Grebien is seeking reelection and has both a primary and general election opponent. Democrat Camron Segalla announced in May that he’s running, and former Pawtucket GOP chair Nathan Luciano is running as an independent.
Kenneth Hazard Sr, a Republican, has also filed to run.
Then in another Blackstone Valley area town, Cumberland Mayor Jeff Mutter, a Democrat, has an opponent.
Independent Bradford S. Dean is running against Mutter and has not been shy about sharing his criticism about how the town is operating under Mutter’s leadership.
If Mutter prevails, this would be his second and final four-year term due to term limits.
Woonsocket is another city with a mayoral race to watch.
Mayor Christopher Beauchamp is seeking a full term after ascending to the role following Baldelli-Hunt’s resignation.
Beauchamp has multiple opponents who have also filed to run: City Council President John Ward, Keith Harrison, Paul LeBon and Michael Warner.
State Rep. Robert Phillips was also running at one point, but dropped out of the race in May, citing deaths in his family.
Central Falls Mayor Maria Rivera and North Providence Mayor Charles Lombardi were both unopposed for reelection as of midday Wednesday.
Providence School Board’s elected seats
This will be the first time ever that Providence’s School Board will have elections for some of its members. Out of the 10 seats, five will be elected due to a change in the city charter that was approved by voters in 2022.
Each seat contains three City Council Wards and is broken down by regions in the city.
Here is a list of who filed to run in each region:
Region 1 (Wards 1, 2 and 3) – Herman Brewster, Michael Jefferson and Corey Jones.
Region 2 (Wards 4, 5 and 14) – Toni Akin, Kobi Dennis, Michelle Fontes, Andrew Grover, Chris Ireland and John Mazzocca.
Region 3 (Wards 6, 7 and 15) – Jenny Mercado, Jorge Porras and Heidi Silverio.
Region 4 (Wards 8, 9 and 10) – Mireya Mendoza, Night Jean Muhingabo, Michael Nina and David Talan.
Region 5 (Wards 11, 12 and 13) – Deneil Jones and Ty’Relle Stephens.
Akin, Muhingabo, Nina and Stephens are all current members of the all-appointed School Board.
These seats will be on the November ballot and are nonpartisan.
Key General Assembly races
There are also a few General Assembly races to keep an eye on that don’t have an incumbent running this year.
House Districts 15, 21, 26, 53 and 64 are open races.
In House District 15, there are two candidates: Cranston Ward 5 City Councilman Chris Paplauskas, a Republican, and Maria Bucci, chair of the Cranston Democratic City Committee. That seat is open since Fenton-Fung, R-Cranston, is running for mayor.
The House District 21 seat is open after state Rep. Camille Vella-Wilkinson, D-Warwick, announced during the last day of this year’s legislative session she wouldn’t be running again.
Vella-Wilkinson explained in a poem to her colleagues on the House floor that she wasn’t seeking reelection because of her belief in term limits for state legislators.
Warwick Ward 4 City Councilman James McElroy, a Democrat, and Marie Hopkins, a Republican, have filed to run for this seat.
Marie Hopkins challenged Vella-Wilkinson last election cycle and lost by 38 votes, making it the second-closest General Assembly race that year.
House District 26 is open since state Rep. Patricia Morgan, R-West Warwick, is running for U.S. Senate. Republican Jeffrey Fisher and Democrat Earl Read are running for that seat. Vincent Marzullo is also running for the seat as an independent.
Over in House District 53, state Rep. Brian Rea isn’t seeking reelection since his family is dealing with a medical challenge. He is a first-term Smithfield Republican.
Three candidates have filed to succeed Rea: former Democratic state Rep. Bernard Hawkins — whom Rea unseated in 2022 — as well as Republican Paul Santucci and independent Jonathan Cappuccino.
For House District 64, state Rep. Brianna Henries, an East Providence Democrat, announced she wasn’t running for another term.
There are two Democrats who filed to run for that open seat: Jenni Furtado, chair of East Providence’s School Committee, and Ashley Pereira. No Republicans or independents filed to run.
On the Senate side, there are a couple of open seats also. Those open seats are in Districts 20, 25, 26 and 28.
Senate District 20 is open after longtime Democratic state Sen. Roger Picard, D-Woonsocket, announced in April he wasn’t running again.
There are three Democrats that have filed to replace Picard: Marian Juskuv, Cumberland School Committee member Denis Collins, and Woonsocket City Councilman Brian Thompson.
Senate District 26 is an open race after state Sen. Frank Lombardi, a Democrat, announced he wouldn’t seek reelection because he wants to spend more time with his family.
Cranston Police Major Todd Patalano, a Democrat, and Jennifer Caputi, a Republican, are running for that open seat.
Senate District 25 is an open seat this year due to the passing of state Sen. Frank Lombardo III, who died in February from bladder cancer.
There are three Democrats vying for the nomination in that district: former Johnston Town Councilman Richard DelFino III, Pamela Leary and Andrew Dimitri.
Republican Karin Gorman is also running in District 25.
The last open Senate race is in District 28. State Sen. Joshua Miller, D-Cranston, announced earlier this month he would not be running for another term.
A total of six Democrats filed paperwork to run for the open seat: Darrell Brown; Melissa Carden, who is the executive director of the RI Coalition Against Gun Violence; John Croke Jr; Christopher Lanen; Bernice Morris and Cranston City Council Vice President Lammis Vargas.
Another race for the Senate that has garnered attention is in District 4. Senate President Dominick Ruggerio announced recently that he is seeking another term.
Ruggerio faces a primary challenge from Lenny Cioe, who also ran against him in 2020 and 2022.
Who’s running for Congress and Senate?
There are also federal races up this year aside from Rhode Island’s four electoral votes for president.
In the 1st Congressional District, Democratic Congressman Gabe Amo is running for a full two-year term after winning last November’s special election to replace David Cicilline.
Two Republicans have filed to run against Amo: Allen Waters, who has run for the seat twice before, and Jeffrey Lemire, who previously ran as an independent both for the 1st District seat and for mayor of Providence.
Democrat Eddy Medrano, independent Ronald Zapanta and independent C.D. Reynolds have all filed to run against Amo in the 1st District, as well.
Over in the 2nd Congressional District, Democratic Congressman Seth Magaziner is seeking reelection for the first time after winning a hard-fought race against Allan Fung in 2022. Republican Steven Corvi has filed to run against Magaziner.
For the U.S. Senate race, incumbent Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse is seeking reelection. There are two Republicans who filed to run: Morgan and Raymond McKay.
Joseph Lusi and Joel Reyes have filed to run for the Senate race as independents, and Michael Costa has filed to challenge Whitehouse in the Democratic primary.
What happens next?
Next up for these candidates is gathering and submitting enough valid signatures to officially be on the ballot in their respective races.
July 2 is when nomination papers are available to pick up, and then July 12 at 4 p.m. is the deadline for candidates to submit signatures.
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