Barrington resident John Chung lost to Liana Cassar in a Democratic primary on Wednesday, Sept. 12, but will be voting for her in the November general election.

Mr. Chung and Ms. Cassar squared off in a race for the District 66 seat in the Rhode Island House of Representatives — the district includes portions of Barrington and Riverside. Ms. Cassar won all three Barrington precincts and one in Riverside; the final tally was Ms. Cassar 1,410, Mr. Chung 818.

Mr. Chung said he called Ms. Cassar a day after the election.

"I congratulated her on her victory and I told her I would be supporting her, and voting for her in November. And I told her I thought she would do a great job," said Mr. Chung. 

When asked to reflect on the race, Mr. Chung said it was too early for him to know for sure why he had lost to Ms. Cassar.

"I'm still trying to process everything. It's really hard for me to answer that," said Mr. Chung. 

The Roger Williams University law professor said he enjoyed campaigning for the District 66 seat during the past few months, knocking on front doors and talking to residents.

"I really did enjoy every minute of it, which is why I was out there every day," he said. "I think one of the things that surprised me is how much work is involved. I now have a much higher appreciation for people who run for office than I did before this experience."

Mr. Chung said his opponent has a strong and energetic base, adding "I think I knew that from the beginning."

When asked if he might consider running again for public office, Mr. Chung laughed a bit.

"I'm smiling right now because it is so fresh that I can't even begin to process that question. I'm not trying to be glib, I'm being serious about that," he said. "At this point, I just can't see that happening.

"From the start, I always said to myself, and I made this a guiding principle, that no matter what happens after the day of results, I don't want to feel any regret or embarrassment … I think I managed to stick to that."

Mr. Chung said he wished to thank everyone who voted for him and all the people who helped with his campaign. 

"The best part of this entire experience was meeting people on their doorstops. That really was the best part of the entire experience," he said. 

Political priorities

Prior to the election, Ms. Cassar and Mr. Chung shared some of their priorities, should they be elected to office. Ms. Cassar said her top priority was building good government at the Rhode Island Statehouse.

"I think 'business as usual' really serves a powerful few and their interests," she said.

Mr. Chung said his priorities included ensuring that Barrington Public Schools continued to offer a stellar education to local children. 

Ms. Cassar said she was focused on improving access to affordable, high quality healthcare for all people. Ms. Cassar, who has worked in the healthcare field for many years, said access to healthcare can affect the strength of the workforce and, in turn, the strength of the economy. 

She also called for common sense gun control legislation. 

"There are proven things that can be done in the United States," she said during a previous interview. "I think popular opinion is that we need to keep our communities and our schools safe. We really should have taken care of this a long time ago," she said. 

Mr. Chung said he focused reigning in property tax increase in Barrington and pledged to fight for as much state aid as possible for the Barrington Middle School construction project. He also called for the protection of women's rights that have been provided under the Roe v. Wade decision. 

"I really believe that Rhode Island law needs to protect Roe v. Wade," he said during an earlier interview. "I want to make sure that the rights protected under Roe v. Wade remain protected in Rhode Island… especially if a conservative Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade."