Rhode Island state legislative special elections, 2019

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2019 State Legislative
Special Elections

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In 2019, one special election were called to fill a vacant seat in the Rhode Island General Assembly. Click here to read more about the special elections.

House special elections called:

* District 68: March 5

## Contents

* 1 How vacancies are filled in Rhode Island
* 2 About the legislature
* 3 Special elections
* 3.1 March 5, 2019
* 4 Special elections throughout the country
* 4.1 Breakdown of 2019 special elections
* 4.2 Impact of special elections on partisan composition
* 4.3 Flipped seats
* 4.3.1 Seats flipped from D to R
* 4.3.2 Seats flipped from R to D
* 4.3.3 Seats flipped from R to I
* 5 State profile
* 5.1 Partisan data
* 6 See also
* 7 Footnotes

#### How vacancies are filled in Rhode Island[edit]

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures

If there is a vacancy in the Rhode Island General Assembly, a special election must be held to fill the vacant seat. The secretary of state must call for an election to be held anywhere from 70 to 90 days after the vacancy occurred. No election can be held if the vacancy happens after the first Monday in February during an election year.[1] The person elected to fill the seat serves for the remainder of the unfilled term.[2]

See sources: Rhode Island Gen. Laws § 17-3-6

### About the legislature[edit]

The State of Rhode Island General Assembly is a bicameral body composed of the lower Rhode Island House of Representatives with 75 representatives, and the upper Rhode Island State Senate with 38 senators. Members are elected in the general election immediately preceding the beginning of the term or in special elections called to fill vacancies. The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the November 2018 general election. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Rhode Island State Senate

Party  | As of November 6, 2018  | After November 7, 2018
| Democratic Party | 33 | 33
| Republican Party | 4  | 5
| Vacancy  | 1  | 0
Total |  38 |  38
Rhode Island House of Representatives

Party  | As of November 6, 2018  | After November 7, 2018
| Democratic Party | 64 | 66
| Republican Party | 11  | 9
Total |  75 |  75

## Special elections[edit]

Click [show] to the right of the district name for more information:

### March 5, 2019[edit]

Rhode Island House of Representatives District 68 |

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See also: Rhode Island state legislative special elections, 2019

A special election for District 68 of the Rhode Island House of Representatives was held on March 5, 2019. A primary took place on February 5, 2019. The filing deadline for candidates was December 28, 2018.[3]

The special election was called after Representative-elect Laufton Ascencao (D) announced that he would not take the oath of office because he had lied to local Democratic town committee members about producing a six-page mailer.[4] He also produced a fake expenses invoice for the mailer and sent it to the committee members. When he announced his decision not to take office, Ascencao said the brochure was completed but not in time for it to be published and mailed prior to the election, so there were no actual expenses incurred for it.[5]

Entering the special election, Kenneth Marshall held the District 68 seat as a Democratic member. He was first elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2014 and 2016; he did not run for re-election in 2018 after acknowledging in July 2018 that he had not reported more than $10,000 in campaign contributions. However, Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea (D) decided in December 2018 that Marshall's term would be extended until the special election had passed.[6]

General election

The primary occurred on February 5, 2019. The general election will occur on March 5, 2019. Additional general election candidates will be added here following the primary.

##### Special general election for Rhode Island House of Representatives District 68

June Speakman defeated William Hunt Jr., incumbent Kenneth Marshall, and James McCanna III in the special general election for Rhode Island House of Representatives District 68 on March 5, 2019.

|  |

Candidate

Votes

|
|
|

✔ |

| June Speakman (D)  |

39.8

| 864

| William Hunt Jr. (L)  |

28.4

| 615

| Kenneth Marshall (Independent)  |

23.6

| 512

| James McCanna III (Independent)  |

8.1

| 176
|  | Other/Write-in votes |

0.1

| 2

* * *

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2

| Total votes: 2,169

|
|

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

##### Special Democratic primary for Rhode Island House of Representatives District 68

June Speakman defeated Richard Ruggerio in the special Democratic primary for Rhode Island House of Representatives District 68 on February 5, 2019.

Candidate

Votes

|
|
|

✔ |

| June Speakman |

72.2

| 1,220

| Richard Ruggerio |

27.8

| 469

* * *

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

| Total votes: 1,689

|
|

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

#### Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

* John Hanley (D)

Independent primary election

No Independent candidates ran in the primary.

#### Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

* Nicky Ann Tyska (Independent)

## Special elections throughout the country[edit]

See also: State legislative special elections, 2019

In 2019, 77 state legislative special elections were held in 24 states. Between 2011 and 2018, an average of 77 special elections took place each year.

### Breakdown of 2019 special elections[edit]

In 2019, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:

* 47 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
* 21 due to a retirement
* 6 due to the death of the incumbent
* 1 due to a resignation related to criminal charges
* 2 due to an election being rerun

### Impact of special elections on partisan composition[edit]

The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:

* 39 Democratic seats
* 38 Republican seats

As of March 7, 2022, Republicans controlled 54.40% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 44.29%. Republicans held a majority in 62 chambers, and Democrats held the majority in 36 chambers. One chamber (Alaska House) was organized under a multipartisan, power-sharing coalition.[7]

Partisan balance of all 7,383 state legislative seats

Legislative chamber  |  |  |  Other  | Vacant
State senates | 863  | 1,096  | 8  | 3
State houses | 2,414  | 2,915  | 33  | 49
Total: | 3,277

| 4,011

| 41

| 52

The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2019. The number on the left reflects how many vacant seats were originally held by each party, while the number on the right shows how many vacant seats each party won in the special elections. In elections between 2011 and 2018, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of four seats across the country. Between 2017 and 2018, Democrats had a net gain of 19 seats.

Note: This table reflects information for elections that were held and not the total number of vacant seats.

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2019)

Party  | As of Special Election  | After Special Election
| Democratic Party | 39  | 36
| Republican Party | 38  | 40
| Independent  | 0  | 1
Total |  77  |  77

### Flipped seats[edit]

In 2019, eight seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections.

#### Seats flipped from D to R[edit]

* Minnesota State Senate District 11 (February 5)
* Connecticut State Senate District 6 (February 26)
* Connecticut House of Representatives District 99 (February 26)
* Kentucky State Senate District 31 (March 5)
* New Jersey State Senate District 1 (November 5)

#### Seats flipped from R to D[edit]

* Pennsylvania State Senate District 37 (April 2)
* Missouri House of Representatives District 99 (November 5)

#### Seats flipped from R to I[edit]

* Louisiana House of Representatives District 62 (March 30)

## State profile[edit]

See also: Rhode Island and Rhode Island elections, 2019

### Partisan data[edit]

The information in this section was current as of May 7, 2019

Presidential voting pattern

* Rhode Island voted for the Democratic candidate in all six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.

Congressional delegation

* Following the 2018 elections, both U.S. Senators from Rhode Island were Democrats.
* Both of Rhode Island's U.S. Representatives were Democrats.

State executives

* Democrats held five of Rhode Island's 14 state executive offices. Elections for the other offices are nonpartisan.
* Rhode Island's governor was Democrat Gina Raimondo.

State legislature

* Democrats controlled the Rhode Island State Senate with a 33-5 majority.
* Democrats controlled the Rhode Island House of Representatives with a 66-9 majority.

Rhode Island Party Control: 1992-2022
Thirteen years of Democratic trifectas • No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year  | 92  | 93  | 94  | 95  | 96  | 97  | 98  | 99  | 00  | 01  | 02  | 03  | 04  | 05  | 06  | 07  | 08  | 09  | 10  | 11  | 12  | 13  | 14  | 15  | 16  | 17  | 18  | 19  | 20  | 21  | 22

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Governor | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | I | I | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D
Senate | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D
House | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D

Rhode Island quick stats

* Became a state in 1790
* 13th state admitted to the United States
* Rhode Island has the smallest geographic size of any state.
* Members of the Rhode Island State Senate: 38
* Members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives: 75
* U.S. senators: 2
* U.S. representatives: 2

|  More Rhode Island coverage on Ballotpedia:

* Rhode Island elections, 2019
* Presidential voting trends in Rhode Island
* United States congressional delegations from Rhode Island
* Public policy in Rhode Island
* Influencers in Rhode Island
* Almanac of American Politics state profile
* More...

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Demographic data for Rhode Island

| Rhode Island| U.S.
Total population:| 1,055,607| 316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):| 1,034| 3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:| 81.1%| 73.6%
Black/African American:| 6.5%| 12.6%
Asian:| 3.2%| 5.1%
Native American:| 0.5%| 0.8%
Pacific Islander:| 0%| 0.2%
Two or more:| 2.8%| 3%
Hispanic/Latino:| 13.6%| 17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:| 86.2%| 86.7%
College graduation rate:| 31.9%| 29.8%
Income
Median household income:| $56,852| $53,889
Persons below poverty level:| 17.3%| 11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Rhode Island.

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**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

## See also[edit]

* State legislative special elections, 2019
* State legislative special elections, 2018
* State legislative special elections, 2017
* State legislative special elections, 2016
* State legislative special elections, 2015
* Rhode Island State Legislature

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ Rhode Island Legislature, "Rhode Island General Laws," accessed February 15, 2021 (Statute 17-3-6 (a))
2. ↑ Rhode Island Legislature, "Rhode Island General Laws," accessed February 15, 2021 (Statute 17-3-6 (b))
3. ↑ Providence Journal, "Bristol Democrat Ascencao formally gives up House seat," December 10, 2018
4. ↑ WPRI, "Rep.-elect apologizes for faking campaign invoice," December 4, 2018
5. ↑ Providence Journal, "East Bay state Rep.-elect Ascencao won’t take seat," December 5, 2018
6. ↑ Providence Journal, "Incumbent, who did not seek reelection, will remain in East Bay House seat until special election," December 13, 2018
7. ↑ Nebraska is officially nonpartisan but was held by a Republican majority. For more information on how Ballotpedia determined the partisan affiliation for Nebraska senators, please click here.

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