While General Treasurer Gina Raimondo and Cranston Mayor Allan Fung will face each other in the general election for governor, Seth Magaziner, Nellie Gorbea, Jorge Elorza, Aaron Regunberg and Lauren Carson advanced beyond the primary. Maria Cimini lost.
Raimondo won 42 percent of the vote while Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and newcomer Clay Pell split 56.1 percent – Taveras with 29.2 percent and Pell with 26.9 percent.
Raimondo bested Taveras in Providence – 41 percent to his 39.8 percent (Pell took 17.9 percent). And she beat Pell in Newport, where she scored 44.3 percent, Pell took 34.8 percent and Taveras 20 percent. She won 36 of 39 cities and towns – Taveras took Central Falls and Pell won Burrillville and Foster.
Raimondo did particularly well in affluent suburbs: in Barrington she won 59 percent of the vote and in East Greenwich she took 57.9 percent of the vote. Taveras and Pell combined took only 40 percent of the vote in Barrington and 41.3 percent in East Greenwich.
After his concession speech, I asked Mayor Taveras what he would have done differently.
Magaziner was the biggest statewide winner of the evening, trouncing former treasurer Frank Caprio 67 percent to 33 percent. No one with an opponent won by a larger margin and Caprio conceded within minutes of the polls closing. Magaziner now faces off against former Democrat Ernie Almonte in the general election.
The surprise of the evening was Gorbea’s upset over Guillaume de Ramel, who had a slight lead in the polls and a huge advantage in money and endorsements.
The saddest defeat for the left was progressive hero Rep. Maria Cimini losing to Dan McKiernan, who was endorsed by House Speaker Nick Mattiello, RI Right to Life and NEARI. NEARI’s endorsement baffled and angered progressives, who felt betrayed by the state’s largest teacher’s union. Even with such powerful interests backing McKiernan, Cimini’s grassroots campaign still kept it competitive: she lost 46.7 percent to 53.3 percent.
On the other hand, progressive newcomer Lauren Carson beat NEARI-backed incumbent Peter Martin.
Education activist and student organizer Aaron Regunberg won 51.4 percent in Gordon Fox’s former district while Heather Tow-Yick won 33.9 percent and Miriam Ross won 14.7 percent.