Fuoco Takes 2nd Council Term, Petraca Loses House Seat, Lombardo Wins

As of 10 pm last night, the Rhode Island Secretary of State website reported that incumbent Eileen Fuoco had won the three-candidate Democratic primary for Johnston Town Council Ward 1, and incumbent Sen. Frank Lombardo retained the Rhode Island Senate Dist. 25 seat.

Rep. Peter Petrarca lost his re-election bid to Democratic challenger Gregory Costantino in the state House Dist. 44 primary.

[The vote tallies are based on 12 of 13 precincts reporting as of 10 pm, or 92 percent of the Johnston vote. Results are unofficial until the Board of Elections counts mail-in ballots and certifies the results.]

For the second time in a row, the Ward 1 seat was decided in September among three hopefuls.

Fuoco collected 46 percent, or 171, of the votes cast for the council seat at , with Edward Cardillo finishing with 41 percent and Paul Crowell III collecting 13 percent.

At Pell Manor — where Fuoco won an appeal to the town's Board of Canvassers to reassign poll workers, as reported by the Johnston Sun Rise last week — Fuoco ended with 21 votes to Cardillo's 11 and Crowell's eight, to give her an overall 46-41-14 margin.

In the Senate race, Lombardo defeated first-time candidate Nicole Acciardo, 63-37 percent, taking 1,456 votes out of about 2,300 cast.

In the House Dist. 44 race,  Costantino defeated Petrarca, 159-136, in Johnston, with the final results [including polling places in Smithfield and Lincoln] giving Costantino the victory by a 60-40 margin.

Costantino advances to the Nov. 6 election against Republican James Archer of Smithfield.

And in the primaries for the U.S. House Dist. 2 seat currently held by Rep. James Langevin, Johnston voters favored the incumbent over challengers John Matson by a 67-33 margin.

On the Republican ticket, Michael Riley prevailed in a four-way primary with just over 50 percent of the vote.