PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Rhode Island's presidential primary last month saw anemic voter turnout statewide. And the lack of interest even extended to the State House.
A Target 12 review of voting records for members of the General Assembly shows 27 Democrats, three Republicans and one independent did not cast a ballot on April 2.
In the R.I. House of Representatives, 21 of the current 75 officeholders didn’t vote.
The group included several people in leadership roles, including House Minority Leader Mike Chippendale, as well as Democratic state Reps. David Bennett, Camille Vella Wilkinson, Patricia Serpa, Robert Craven, Kathleen Fogarty and Marvin Abney, who are all committees chairs.
State Reps. Raymond Hull, Mary Messier and John Edwards, who hold non-committee Democratic leadership positions, also did not cast ballots.
On the Senate side, 10 of the 38 legislators didn’t vote, including Deputy Majority Leader John Burke and newly minted state Sen. Jake Bissaillon, who won his first bid for office in a special election last year.
Common Cause Rhode Island executive director John Marion said he was surprised that 28% of the General Assembly didn't cast a ballot.
"You would think of all the people in Rhode Island who would be most interested in a party primary, it would be people who have been elected through party primaries, in part," he said.
In the Senate, in fact, some of their colleagues were actually on the ballot: sens. Sandra Cano, Ryan Pearson and Sherry Roberts all ran in the primary to serve as convention delegates.
Target 12 reached out to all 31 lawmakers who didn't vote. Among the 12 who responded, most attributed missing the vote to an illness, family emergency or work and legislative obligations.
"My failure to vote wasn't a decision -- I had every intention of voting as always," said Chippendale, R-Foster. "Personal obligations had me on the road to Boston well before polls opened, and my legislative duties in Providence had me unable to get into the polls before they closed by ten minutes. I would have voted between Boston and the State House, but I was in Boston for far longer than anticipated."
The sentiment was echoed by others, including Bissaillon, who had told The Public's Radio that week he was planning to support President Biden at the polls.
Bissaillon, D-Providence, said he got caught up at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing and made a conscious decision to stay at the State House rather than go cast a ballot.
"It became clear to me that it was more important for me to be present for the testimony of everyday Rhode Islanders on the need for criminal justice reform than casting a lone vote for President Biden in what was pretty much an uncontested primary," he said.
State Rep. Brianna Henries said she missed voting because she had misplaced her ID, and by the time she realized, it was too late to get a provisional ballot. Henries, D-East Providence, said she had planned to vote uncommitted because she was "not happy with the options as they were."
"But it came down to life and poor planning happening," Henries said. "Exercising the right to vote has and always will be important, and now I'm fully equipped to cast a provisional ballot should it happen again."
Chippendale likewise said his experience last month "demonstrated that early voting can be a good tool when scheduling issues are in play."
"I've never early voted, but going forward when I am expecting a tightly scheduled day, I will consider early voting as not to repeat my experience this spring," he said.
None of the respondents said they didn't want to vote. Abney was among those who said everyone who can vote should participate in the democratic process. The House Finance Committee chairman said he missed the primary due to legislative obligations.
"I'd planned to vote after returning back to Newport," Abney said. "However, with committee and subcommittee, I wasn't able to make it back to my local polling place before its closing."
Others, however, suggested elected officials shouldn't be seen as having a special repsonsibility to vote.
"I don't believe elected officials are under a higher obligation to participate because like everyone else, we have obligations and responsibilities that can impede participation," said state Rep. Leonela Felix, D-Pawtucket, who said she was dealing with a death in the family on Election Day.
She added that "election day should be a holiday and/or moved to the weekend so we have more participation."
State Rep. Jon Brien said his choice to skip the polls was because he's an independent. (He is the only independent in either chamber.) In order to vote in a primary election, he'd technically have to temporarily register as a Democrat or Republican.
"I haven't voted in a primary since I became an independent in 2016," Brien said. He added that he is supporting a bill that would end the requirement for independents to affiliate with a party if they want to vote in Rhode Island primary elections.
Turnout among State House lawmakers still far outperformed the Rhode Island electorate overall, as just 5% of registered voters cast a ballot in an election where Biden and former President Trump had already sewn up their parties' nominations.
Elsewhere in government, all four of the state's congressional delegation cast a ballot, as did all but one of the state's five general officers. R.I. Attorney General Peter Neronha was the exception, which he attributed to an unexpected family health issue.
"Just poor planning on my part," Neronha said.
Representatives who didn't vote in the primary:
- Rep. Marvin Abney
- Rep. Jose Batista
- Rep. David Bennett
- Rep. Nathan Biah
- Rep. Jon Brien
- Rep. Michael Chippendale
- Rep. Robert Craven
- Rep. Cherie Cruz
- Rep. John Edwards
- Rep. Leonela Felix
- Rep. Deborah Fellela
- Rep. Kathleen Fogarty
- Rep. Brianna Henries
- Rep. Raymond Hull
- Rep. John Lombardi
- Rep. Mary Messier
- Rep. Thomas Noret
- Rep. Ramon Perez
- Rep. Enrique Sanchez
- Rep. Patricia Serpa
- Rep. Camille Vella Wilkinson
Senators who didn't vote in the primary:
- Sen. Jacob Bissaillon
- Sen. Robert Britto
- Sen. John Burke
- Sen. Frank Ciccone
- Sen. Anthony Deluca
- Sen. Victoria Gu
- Sen. Frank Lombardi
- Sen. Thomas Paolino
- Sen. Leonidas Raptakis
- Sen. David Tikoian
Eli Sherman (esherman@wpri.com) is a Target 12 investigative reporter for 12 News. Connect with him on Twitter and on Facebook.
Ted Nesi (tnesi@wpri.com) is a Target 12 investigative reporter and 12 News politics/business editor. He co-hosts Newsmakers and writes Nesi's Notes on Saturdays. Connect with him on Twitter, Threads and Facebook.