The 2024 election season in city got off to a quick start earlier this week when Jenni Azanero Furtado, who is the sitting East Providence School Committee chairperson, announced in a release Monday morning, Jan. 8, her intention to run for the Rhode Island State Representative District 64 seat as Democrat.

At the moment, she would be challenging two-term incumbent Briana Henries for the party's endorsement.

Azanero Furtado is in the midst of her second term as the Ward 3 representative on the School Committee, having won an open-seat race in 2020 against current Ward 3 City Council member Frank Fogarty. She was re-elected in 2022, becoming body chair upon the retirement of Joel Monteiro.

Azanero Furtado wrote in part, "As a member of the school committee, I am always a voice and advocate for residents. Now my goal is to be that same voice for the people of District 64.”

Among her aims in the General Assembly would be greater state funding for education, affordable housing, and aid for small businesses.

In addition she said a priority would be to work with other city and state officials to make sure the infrastructure issues that occurred on the Washington bridge are rectified, and substantive reforms are made at RIDOT so a future incident can never happen again.

Reached for comment about the challenge, Henries said, "My focus is and always has been on advocating for my district and the people of Rhode Island. The legislative session just began, and I'm working overtime on bills that will create more affordable housing, livable wages, and social equity."

She added, "I firmly believe I'm the best person for this job, and looking at the overwhelming election results in 2020 and 2022, District 64 agrees. But anyone is allowed to run, and I'm excited to learn more about what issues Jenni wants to see addressed for our community once we pivot to election season in June."

Henries was referring to both the end of the Assembly's 2024 session on June 30 and the 2024 election season filing period, which also is conducted the same month. The statewide Primary Election date is Tuesday, Sept. 10. The 2024 General Election is Tuesday, Nov. 5.