Conservative and progressive Dems jockey to lead the R.I. Senate

Providence Democratic Sen. Frank Ciccone III says he’s seeking a Senate leadership spot as a way to pay tribute to his friend and “brother,” the late Sen. President Dominick Ruggerio.

He’s teamed up with an unlikely ally, Senate Majority Leader Valarie Lawson, to do so. 

Lawson will seek the vacant Senate president spot, with Ciccone as her No. 2, the duo confirmed late Thursday afternoon. The leadership contest has ignited long-simmering tensions between progressive and conservative Rhode Island Democrats, with the fate of a proposed state ban on assault-style weapons dependent upon the election outcome.

Progressive group Indivisible Rhode Island is publicly urging residents to tell their state senator not to support a ticket that includes Ciccone in a leadership role, referring to Ciccone as “Trump Lite” in a post Wednesday on BlueSky.

Meanwhile, even senators who support Lawson are reluctant to vote for her if it props up Ciccone due to his voting history opposing abortion rights, gun restrictions, and gay marriage. Lawson did not return multiple inquiries for comment.

Another option: Sen. Ryan Pearson, a Cumberland Democrat who already gathered the backing of one-third of Senate Democrats when he unsuccessfully challenged Ruggerio for the president spot during the party’s November caucus. Pearson confirmed his candidacy Thursday, but declined to comment when asked about Lawson and Ciccone.

“This is a time for us to bring the Senate together and have us work as a unified team for the people of Rhode Island,” Pearson said in a text message Thursday. “I am seeking my colleagues’ support based on my past record working with each of them as Finance Chair and Majority leader, delivering on their priorities and meeting the diverse needs of their districts.”

Ciccone also said he wants to bring harmony to a divided chamber. That’s what prompted him to start calling lawmakers for support on April 21, following Ruggerio’s death earlier that day.

“I even feel bad talking about this to you right now,” Ciccone, 77, said Thursday morning. “I don’t think we should do anything, make any statements, cut any deals, go public until after the funeral.”

Six hours later, Lawson and Ciccone announced their ticket for president and majority leader, respectively.

“Our goal in coming together as a team is to unite the very diverse membership of the Democratic Caucus in the Senate,” they said in a joint statement. “While our focus right now is on honoring the legacy of President Dominick Ruggerio, we believe that we have a consensus on a vision to move our Chamber forward at the appropriate time, which is after we pay our respects to our dear friend Dominick. We have commitments of support from a majority of the Caucus, and a majority of the Chamber, and we are continuing to have conversations with all of our colleagues.”

Pearson’s response: “false,” he wrote in a text message Thursday afternoon.

Ruggerio’s funeral Mass will be celebrated on Monday, April 28. The Senate has been on hiatus since his death, but is expected to reconvene following his funeral, at which time a simple majority of the sitting 37 senators will vote for a new president. 

There’s little daylight between Pearson and Lawson on policy issues: Both support stronger reproductive rights and gun restrictions, champion education issues and want to strengthen the state’s health care landscape.  Ciccone, first elected in 2002, represents a much different brand of Democrat, making his alliance with Lawson surprising, and potentially, damaging to her candidacy.

“I like Val, and would absolutely support her on the leadership team,” said Sen. Tiara Mack, a Providence Democrat. Mack is the youngest, and one of the most progressive members of the chamber.

Referring to Ciccone, Mack continued, “But I cannot stand behind someone who is, in this state of the world, not going to give us a firm commitment to what 75% of Rhode Islanders believe we need: an assault-weapons ban.”

Gun rights under fire 

Ciccone is a licensed federal firearms dealer and gun rights supporter with an high rating by the National Rifle Association. He sells guns out of the basement of his Silver Lake  home, no more than one per year to “someone I know,” he said Thursday.

He plans to seek an advisory opinion from the Rhode Island Ethics Commission regarding whether his gun sale business conflicts with a potential leadership position in the Senate, he said Thursday.

Ciccone has routinely voted against stricter gun protections throughout his 22 years in the Senate, including the safe storage bill signed into law in 2024. And he doesn’t support an assault-style weapons ban, at least as currently proposed.

“The fact that someone owns a semi-automatic shotgun, or rifle they hunt with, or a pistol, I don’t define that as an assault weapon,” Ciccone said.

Companion bills introduced by Sen. Lou DiPalma and Rep. Jason Knight would ban the sale of various types of semi-automatic shotguns and rifles. The legislation also requires residents who already own assault-style weapons to register them with a police department, which Ciccone contends is unconstitutional.

Ciccone said he would be open to an alternative proposal that eliminates the registry and narrows the definition of assault-style weapons, to something similar to the description used by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Gun rights advocates expressed similar views during a March 26 hearing on Knight’s bill in the House Judiciary Committee. The Senate Committee on Judiciary has not yet held an initial hearing on DiPalma’s companion bill.

DiPalma, a Middletown Democrat, said Thursday he was open to amending the language of his bill, including the registry component and the definition of an assault-style weapon.

“I am still focused on getting this over the goal line,” DiPalma said. “We need to get it done, and get it done this session. But ‘done’ does not mean the bill we have is the exact bill we are going to pass.”

DiPalma has decided, but declined to say, who he would be supporting in the Senate leadership elections. DiPalma had spoken with Ciccone and Lawson, but not Pearson, as of Thursday morning,

Listening to voters 

Ruggerio and Ciccone share similar politics, ages and union backgrounds. Their shared history spans four decades, dating back to when Ciccone was business manager of the Rhode Island Judicial, Professional, and Technical Employees Local Union 808.

The pair would bicker constantly — just like brothers —  Ciccone said, but always worked it out in the end.

Ciccone, who chairs the Senate Committee on Labor and Gaming, said his union experience translated well to Smith Hill.

“You have to listen to everyone, hear them out, and try to work out an agreement,” Ciccone said. “I enjoy the fact everybody [in the Senate] has a different opinion. They represent different constituencies.”

Ciccone cited his constituents’ viewpoints as the reason why he voted against legalizing gay marriage in 2010. 

“I represent a district with five Catholic churches and a large Hispanic population,” Ciccone said. “They were not in favor of it. What do I do? Go against my constituents?”

Little comfort to Sen. Meghan Kallman, a Pawtucket Democrat. 

“As a member of the LGBTQ caucus, I cannot vote for someone who is not in full-throated support of the rights of my community,” Kallman said in an interview Thursday.

Ciccone also opposed the state’s 2019 law codifying Roe v. Wade, and the 2023 law expanding insurance coverage for abortion access. 

“That issue has come and went and now it’s decided,” he said.

Ciccone is a co-sponsor on a Republican-backed proposal introduced this year that would repeal the state’s 2021 Act on Climate Law, which set decarbonization mandates with the goal of reaching net-zero by 2050.

Ciccone said the purpose of his support was to “start a discussion” around the state’s ability to meet the incremental decarbonization benchmarks laid out in the existing law.

“I want to be realistic,” Ciccone said, who voted in favor of the original bill in 2021.

But Kallman called Act on Climate “the single-most important and ambitious piece of legislation” passed since she was elected in 2020.

“The Act on Climate is key to my generation and anyone younger than me being able to survive,” she said. 

Rebuilding the bench

Kallman, 41, and Mack, 31, both pushed for new blood in leadership — in age and political philosophy.

“We need a Senate chamber that is also going to have a bold vision, maybe not the boldest, but someone who’s not going to just copy and paste what our Senate president did,” Mack said. 

Mack, who co-chairs the Rhode Island Black, Latino, Indigenous, Asian-American and Pacific-Islander Caucus, also highlighted the lack of diversity in a Lawson-Ciccone ticket.

Pearson is 36, and openly gay — the first member of the Senate leadership team to identify as such when he was chosen to be majority leader in 2022.

“This is a chance to have an LGBTQ+ leader, a millennial leader, a different path,” Mack said.

Her comments come hours before David Hogg, vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, is set to headline a Rhode Island Democratic Party fundraiser at Fish Co. in Providence Thursday night. Hogg has been vocal about his efforts to unseat long-time party incumbents in Congress and “rebuild the bench” with new, younger representation.

Liz Beretta-Perik, state party chair, did not immediately return requests for comment Thursday about Hogg’s position on incumbents.

Ciccone said he was in good health and his age should not be a factor. He remained focused on “restoring” the chamber, noting the need for fiscal responsibility amid a projected deficit in fiscal 2026 and uncertainty over federal funding. 

“My door, similar to Dominick’s, is going to be open,” Ciccone said. 

Updated to include new information regarding Senate Majority Leader Val Lawson and Sen. Frank Ciccone’s ticket and a response from Sen. Ryan Pearson.