Democrat Susan Donovan and Republican Antonio Avila won their respective primary elections and will square off in November along with Libertarian Analee Berretto for the District 69 state …
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Democrat Susan Donovan and Republican Antonio Avila won their respective primary elections and will square off in November along with Libertarian Analee Berretto for the District 69 state representative seat.
Donovan garnered 564 votes to beat challenger Todd Giroux, with 67 votes (88.9 percent to 11.1 percent). Antonio Avila beat Eric R.D. Hall 135-115 (56.5 percent - 43.5 percent) to compete in November for the right to represent Bristol and Portsmouth in the General Assembly. The results are not final as absentee ballots are being counted Wednesday.
Bristol voters also joined most in Congressional District 1 in choosing Rep. David Cicilline over Christopher Young to run for another term.
Ms. Donovan, Mr. Avila and Ms. Berretto will compete in November to replace former Rep. Ray Gallison, who resigned his seat in May amidst a state and federal investigation. The former House Finance Committee chairman has yet to be charged, but an attorney representing the estate of a Barrington man indicated it’s his understanding indictments could be handed down soon. Mr. Gallison had represented Ray Medley’s estate before a Barrington Probate judge removed him for failing to fulfill his duties. He reportedly held Mr. Medley’s investments and personal belongings for more than four years.
Tuesday’s election was a trial run for a new voting system in Rhode Island. Gone are the broken arrows next to candidate names, instead replaced with ovals to fill in like a multiple choice test in school. Bristol Town Clerk Lou Cirillo said all seemed smooth with the new system.
“It’s gone well with the new equipment,” he said. “We seem to be adapting to it pretty well in preparation for November.”
As is typical of local primary elections, turnout was low Tuesday, with just a small percentage of 15,088 voters casting ballots. Not all were even eligible to vote, however, as Republicans in some districts had no election to vote in.