Jenni Furtado, unlike many aspiring Rhode Island politicians this week, has been able to breathe easy knowing that her rise to the State House was a sure thing.

She cleared her lone hurdle towards a seat on Smith Street when she bested her Democratic Primary opponent, Ashley Pereira, by capturing a convincing 72.5% of the vote on Sept. 10.

District 64 — which encompasses many central portions of East Providence including City Hall, Pierce Field, Metacomet Golf Club, Edward R. Martin Middle School, as well as the western sliver of largely commercial properties in Rumford and up into southeastern Pawtucket — became open for the taking when incumbent Brianna Henries (D), announced she wouldn’t seek re-election of the seat she first won in 2020.

Furtado grew up in New York, raised by first-generation American parents (who are natives of Peru), and attended Roger Williams Law School in Bristol. There she met her husband, Marc Furtado, a native Townie, who also became her campaign manager.

Her first foray into politics came when she ran for the Ward 3 School Committee seat in 2020, where she defeated Francis Fogarty by a vote count of 2,519 to 2,207 (52.8% - 46.3%). She defended her seat on the committee in 2022, beating David Luiz by a convincing count of 1,904 to 1,360 (58% - 41.4%). She is currently the Chair of the School Committee.

The Post asked Furtado a few questions about her experience and expectations going into her first term as a member of Rhode Island’s House of Representatives, where she will join a growing rank of younger elected officials of diverse backgrounds.

Questions from The Post from a recent phone interview are in bold, with Furtado’s answers transcribed below.

What made you want to run for higher office in 2024?
After almost four years on the school committee, it seemed like there were a lot of limitations for what one person can do on there. We had budget constraints, and there’s constraints for the city as well on how much they can fund the schools based on the assistance from the state. So it seemed like making the move up to the State House was a good fit for me.

What did you learn from the School Committee about local governance?
The importance of collaboration. I had really only learned how important that was once I got to the school committee. How important it is to work with the different officials, whether it’s the mayor, the city council, or the rest of the East Providence delegation at the State House…it’s very important to have a professional relationship with them.

Also knowing when you don’t know something, and that that’s okay. When I first got in, I knew I was going into it with my resume but I didn’t have educational experience. So I know what lane I’m in and how to stay in that lane as well. So it was interesting to learn so much while I was on there, being open to asking questions and having those conversations and be of service.

How did you earn such a convincing victory in the Primary?
My campaign manager is also my husband. So that was awesome because he was always on call. He was really able to put in a plan for the summer essentially, leading up from when I declared to Primary Day. He had an approach and plan to make sure we stayed on task.

The plan from the get-go was to walk the entirety of the district. Not every single door, but we targeted different voters from the district and I am proud to say that I did walk the entirety of the district, including Pawtucket. People really just want to sometimes know you’re out there trying and not taking it for granted and then some people really want to talk.

What did you learn about the priorities of people in the district?
Something I was surprised to see across the board, the topic people brought up the most, was the importance of funding our schools…At the State House I can’t be getting involved with school committee matters like that, but what I can do is look at the funding formula and try to work with other colleagues in seeing how we can add additional support. If we’re going to create mandates, how do we fund those mandates by the state so it doesn’t just fall on city or town taxpayers?

The support for seniors is what I’ve heard consistently. Just to make sure there’s services provided so they can get health services at home, because a lot of times they don’t have the means to travel to different places. Sometimes, Social Security isn’t enough. That’s a conversation I heard a lot of times in the center of the city.

Lastly, parents of grown kids in their mid-20s relayed how much their kids are struggling with being able to start a family and afford a house. The housing thing is a huge concern, and that was probably a top five concern, how expensive housing is and that rent is just ridiculous.

How would you work to help with the housing situation?
The great thing is that the Speaker is very much putting forward initiatives to make sure there is not just affordable housing, but supports for new families to get new homes. East Providence has been fortunate with the assistance of not just the state, but also our mayor, making sure that East Providence has a lot of projects being developed for apartments and townhomes and that’s going to help with people at least waiting until they can buy a home. Because with renting, there is very limited options.

There has been some progress in that from what I’ve seen but I definitely want to do my best to see that we continue to support the initiatives to create those homes in East Providence and Pawtucket.

I guess that’s where the learning part comes in. What are we working with? What are the holes left? How do we maximize the amount of assistance we can give to people? As long as we prioritize Rhode Islanders at the end of the day, we can get there.

Editor’s note: Furtado, 31, mentioned that as someone in her early 30s who still rents an apartment in the district with her husband, she is particularly motivated to work on the housing issue.

What have you learned about EP since starting your political career?
It was really nice to get to really know the community. When you’re canvassing you get to meet people face to face and see what their concerns and priorities are. It’s a very tight-knit community and even though I wasn’t from here, I felt very welcomed here. That’s one of the things that made me love the city even more, was the residents and how much they really care not just about their own kids and families, but the community as a whole.