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September 9, 2008

Primary Surprises?

Carroll Andrew Morse

UPDATE:

Monique & WJAR-TV say Alves loses. He'll seek a recount...

One of the biggest upsets was brewing in state Senate District 9, where eight-term incumbent Alves was behind by 17 votes to Michael Pinga with 100 percent of the vote counted, according to Associated Press numbers.

Alves, who represents West Warwick, told The Providence Journal that he would seek a recount.

With 13 of 13 precincts reporting in West Warwick, State Senator Stephen Alves is significantly behind in his Democratic primary...

  • Michael J. PINGA (DEM) 968 48.4%
  • Stephen D. ALVES (DEM) 928 46.4%
  • Paul P. CAIANIELLO, JR. (DEM) 105 5.2%

Hmmm. The 13-of-13-precincts numbers have moved up (and in Alves' favor) from what they were a little while ago. I'm not sure if this is because of mail ballots, or for some other reason...

  • Michael J. PINGA (DEM) 994 47.8%
  • Stephen D. ALVES (DEM) 977 46.9%
  • Paul P. CAIANIELLO, JR. (DEM) 110 5.3%

I'm not sure if this is final, because of the way the BoE breaks up elections by town, but does anyone know why incumbent Senator Daniel Issa (Cumberland/Central Falls/Pawtucket) appears to be getting creamed?

  • Elizabeth A. CROWLEY (DEM) 789 63.6%
  • Daniel J. ISSA (DEM) 452 36.4%

9:42 PM | Rhode Island Politics | TrackBack (0)
Comments

[Excuse me as I set up an oxygen tank.] Andrew, we need minute by minute updates on this situation.

Posted by: Monique at September 9, 2008 10:02 PM

You mean Alves hasn't "found" 100 votes after the polls closed?!?!

Amazing!

Posted by: Anthony at September 9, 2008 10:12 PM

Those ballots and machines need to be placed under heavy guard. And where are those damn mail-in ballots, ESPECIALLY ANY BLANK ONES??

Posted by: Monique at September 9, 2008 10:39 PM

If this result holds up, it will be huge, humongous, magnificent (running out of adjectives)! That being said, I'm still waiting for them to "find" some votes ... it is West Warwick after all.

Although not quite as exciting as anything having to do with West Warwick, here are the (unofficial) results for the two Democratic primary races for open seats in East Providence. In each case, the Democratic winner will face both a Republican and an Independent.

Senate 18:

DeVall - 1386 votes
Ramos - 762 votes
Bothelo - 257 votes
Total - 2405 votes

House 63:

DaSilva - 887 votes
Rose - 385 votes
Russo - 137 votes
Total - 1409 votes

As you can tell, both races were not close. Both winners were the "endorsed" candidates.

On a lighter note, while Reed did handily win East Providence, Chris Young somehow actually won 2 precincts (by my unofficial tally).

Posted by: Will at September 9, 2008 10:58 PM

They better have the State Police count the votes in the Alves race.
Does anyone know if Segal got beaten?

Posted by: joe bernstein at September 9, 2008 11:10 PM

Joe,

As far as I know, Alves and Issa are the only two incumbents that had trouble.

Posted by: Andrew at September 9, 2008 11:18 PM

The above tally for West Warwick includes all mail-in ballots: Pinga ahead of Alves by 17 votes.

Steve Alves has announced that he "absolutely" will request a re-count.

Posted by: Monique at September 9, 2008 11:36 PM

Wow- two more years of Segal's childishly ignorant attempts to eliminate the immigration laws and two more years of trying to figure out what Grace Diaz is trying to say.(mind you,I am not mocking her accent-I have dealt with all kinds of accents over the years)-this lady is nitwit in any language.I can't get over her description of Broad Street as a virtual ghost town after the issuance of the Governor's executive order.
She and I must have seen different Broad Streets.And let's not forget her valiant attempt to protect those under 18 from cellophane.(Do they even sell that stuff anymore?)

Posted by: joe bernstein at September 9, 2008 11:48 PM

She actually declared Broad Street a ghost town?! I have to drive through that barrio many nights on the way home and I can assure you, it's as populated as ever.

Good to hear Alves is out. Let's hope he can't cheat his way into a win.

Posted by: Greg at September 10, 2008 7:24 AM

I think Issa got outworked. Signs don't vote, but Crowley had a lot more and bigger signs all over Valley Falls and CF. Either arrogance or apathy on Issa's part.

Posted by: James L at September 10, 2008 7:46 AM

We learned a little something about Mayoral power today.

In Central Falls, Mayor Chuck Moreau brought his entire team out to work for Elizabeth Crowley and she absolutely destroyed incumbent Sen. Dan Issa. Moreau thereby solidified his own power base in the city.

In Providence, Mayor David Cicilline went all out for Sen. Maryellen Goodwin and Rep. Tom Slater and won resounding victories in both of those races and thereby consolidated his power on Smith Hill and on the South Side.

In North Providence, however, Mayor Charlie Lombardi's candidate got absolutely creamed by Doc Corvese in the House 55 race. Mayor Lombardi will now be introduced to that old political expression: if you shoot for the king, you'd better not miss.

Posted by: Matt Jerzyk at September 10, 2008 9:52 AM

The B.O.E. advised today that the Pinga-Alves recount will take place Monday.

Posted by: Monique at September 10, 2008 3:25 PM

There is truth to Joe Bernstein's post about having the State Police present. If I were Pinga(!?!), I'd get a couple of lawyers to be present at the recount.

Posted by: Anthony at September 10, 2008 4:49 PM