Projo Politics Blog

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Former Adjunct Gen. Reginald A. Centracchio secured the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor yesterday, beating retired insurance executive Kernan "Kerry" F. King by a two-to-one margin.

"There is no right more precious than the right to vote. My life's work has been trying to protect that right," Centracchio told supporters last night.

"Remember," he said, "the purpose of the general election is to elect a general."

Democrat state Sen. Elizabeth H. Roberts easily won her party's spot on the ticket, beating out builder Spencer E. Dickinson with 82 percent of the vote.

Roberts and Centracchio now face Robert J. Healey Jr., the Cool Moose party candidate, in a three-way race.

-- Scott Mayerowitz, Journal State House Bureau

>> Continue reading: Lt. Gov.: Centracchio, Roberts cruise

Buoyed by his overwhelming primary win, Sheldon Whitehouse says voters "want to see our country take a new direction."

Whitehouse sailed through a Democratic primary for U.S. Senate yesterday, defeating a newcomer on the statewide political landscape as well as one relative unknown, setting the stage for a fierce battle with the Republican Party come November.

With 75 percent of the votes counted by 10:30 p.m. Whitehouse had clearly run away with the race with about 82 percent of the vote, compared with 11 percent for Christopher R. Young and 7 percent for Carl Sheeler.

Two hours earlier, as polling places approached their final hour of operation, Whitehouse said he had no preference who his Republican challenger would be in November, either Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee or Cranston Mayor Stephen P. Laffey. In the end, Chafee won the GOP nomination Tuesday night.

Whitehouse said the strongest message he had heard from voters across the state is "they want to see our country take a new direction. They want real solutions to problems they've seen Washington ignore, so sending back more of the same isn't going to make a difference."

-- Tom Mooney, Journal staff writer

>> Continue reading: Democrats look to November