Rhode Island Senate leader ousted

PROVIDENCE—The president of Rhode Island’s state Senate was unseated in an upset Tuesday by a self-funded retiree who criticized the incumbent’s ethical lapses and called him an out-of-touch leader responsible for an ongoing budget crisis.

Edward O’Neill, 62, of Lincoln won 53 percent of the vote against Democrat Joseph Montalbano of North Providence, who has served in the General Assembly for two decades. Montalbano has been Senate president since 2004. O’Neill, an independent, paid $30,000 to fund his own race.

Montalbano’s defeat follows the ouster of Senate Finance Chairman Stephen Alves in the primary.

Lawmakers must elect a new Senate president when the General Assembly reconvenes in January, a decision certain to ignite a power struggle at the State House.

“Montalbano had an iron grip on the Senate,“ O’Neill said in an interview Tuesday. “Now that it’s going to be opened up, I would like to see possibly a reform caucus formed.“

As Senate president, Montalbano wielded enormous power in the State House, but he was recently undercut by massive budget deficits that resulted in deep and unpopular spending cuts. An ethical scrape also tarnished Montalbano’s image.

Last year, Montalbano agreed to pay $12,000 to settle a case before the state Ethics Commission that accused him of failing to report legal work that he performed for the town of West Warwick from 2003 to 2005. At the time, West Warwick officials were lobbying the legislature for permission to build a casino in the town.

The Ethics Commission found no evidence that Montalbano or his family would have benefited from his vote in 2006 to place a plan to build a casino in West Warwick on a statewide ballot for voter approval. Montalbano was doing legal work for the town at the time. Voters eventually defeated the referendum.

Federal investigators subpoenaed paperwork related to Montalbano’s legal work, but Montalbano has never been charged with any crimes.

Gambling factored into unaffiliated voter Jen Gaudreau’s decision to vote for O’Neill. The 38-year-old woman faulted Montalbano for supporting a plan to expand gambling hours at Twin River, a slot parlor in Lincoln. In a nonbinding referendum, Lincoln residents voted against the plan.

“I just think, once again, we need another change,“ she said. “Montalbano’s been there for a long time.“

Gaudreau she said worried that the state’s increased reliance on gambling to make its ends meet will only hurt low-income slot parlor patrons.

“In the end, we’re going to have to help them out because they’ve spent all their money, so I just don’t see the point of it,“ she said.

O’Neill also blamed Montalbano for the Senate’s failure to pass a bill that would have required lawmakers to pay 10 percent of the costs of their state-funded health insurance, which lawmakers get for free even after cutting health care coverage for others. Montalbano has said the state constitution guarantees lawmakers the same health insurance plan as state workers at no cost.

In the state House of Representatives, newcomer Deborah Ruggiero defeated Republican Bruce Long in District 74.  Long has served in the house since 1980, earning him the name “Dean of the House.“

Voters also ejected two other Republican members of the House. 

William McManus lost to Mary Ann Shallcross-Smith in District 46.  State Rep. Nicolas Gorham of District 40 was defeated by Scott Pollard.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.