Democrats Sweep Four of Five Council Seats

By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA

November 6th 2024

RICHMOND – In one of the most conservative – leaning towns in the state, it is Democrats who will dominate the new Richmond Town Council, and Democrats who are expected to fill two seats on the Chariho School Committee.

At the time of this writing, it was unclear how many mail and military ballots were still to be counted.

Town Council

Incumbent Samantha Wilcox received the greatest number of votes, 2,474. Mark Reynolds was second, with 2,186, Jim Palmisciano third, with 2,176, and Dan Madnick, fourth, with 1,997.

Jeffrey Dinsmore, the only Republican, won the fifth council seat, receiving 1,955 votes.

The candidates who failed to win a seat are all Republicans, incumbent Michael Colasante, Nell Carpenter, Roger St.Onge and Thomas Marron.

Town Council President Mark Trimmer, a former Republican who is now unaffiliated, also lost his bid for reelection.

Chris Kona, chair of the Richmond Democratic Town Committee, said the candidates had done the ground work of reaching out, and listening to voters.

“Our candidates have been working hard to communicate with folks and ask them what are their actual issues and what are the things that people in town want out of the government and how to make that work,” he said. “Yes, the town has traditional leanings toward Republican, but they’re still people, and when you sit down with them one – on - one and you try and understand and you explain the kind of things we can help with, I think we made a difference in helping to show people that we’ll be there for them, independent of which party they usually vote for.”

Top vote-getter, Samantha Wilcox said,

“I think it shows that people aren’t voting straight down-ticket for their party. Trump won Richmond, but so did the local Democrats.”

Mark Reynolds, who currently chairs the town’s Tax Assessment Board of Review, received the second-highest number of votes.

“At the local level, it’s more about the people than it is the party, and I think they saw the people who got the most votes as the best-suited to move the town forward,” he said.

Residents have complained about the bickering and divisions on the current Town Council. Jim Palmisciano, who was third in the vote totals, said he and his fellow Democrats had shown a willingness to work together and had expressed that intention during a forum on Oct. 2, organized by the League of Women Voters of South County.

“I think what people saw, especially in the League of Women Voters [forum] was a group of individuals sitting there and discussing together issues that were important to the town, and they were doing it in a way that our town has not seen in long time – respectful, thoughtful conversation about issues,” he said.

Dan Madnick, who currently serves as Vice Chair of the Planning Board, is the fourth Democrat elected to the Town Council.

“A lot of people that we talked to were very unhappy with the divisiveness on the most recent couple of Town Councils, and they didn’t appreciate what they were reading from the Republicans, and I think that manifested itself in the votes,” he said. “…We’re going to work with everyone. That’s why we ran. We want to be able to work with everyone and do some good for the community. And the town is giving us the opportunity to do that for two years and the town gets to decide if we did a good enough job to deserve being Town Council members again.”

Town Council President Mark Trimmer, who ran as an unaffiliated candidate after experiencing conflicts with the Republican Town Committee leadership, came second to last, beating Republican Tom Marron.

“Richmond is in good hands with the newly elected council,” Trimmer said. “I knew I had an uphill battle running as an Independent. I’m positive regarding the future of Richmond.”

Trimmer was less positive about the Republican Town Committee, which was taken over last April by councilors Michael Colasante and Helen Sheehan.

“The Richmond Republican Town Committee is permanently damaged by the antics of Mike Colasante, and the exit from the Town Committee of moderate Republicans, including the former chairperson [Patricia] Pouliot, incumbents Trimmer and VP [council Vice President] Nassaney, as well as the party matriarch, Iva Lipton,” he said. “It’s unlikely that the Town Committee will win a majority in future elections without a change in leadership.”

The School Committee

Democrat Jessica Purcell received the greatest number of votes, 2,295. Karen Reynolds, also a Democrat, received 2,107 votes, Republican Louise Dinsmore received 2,093 votes and Clay Johnson received 2,074 votes.

Purcell, who successfully fought the Town Council’s appointment of Johnson to the school committee in the Rhode Island Supreme Court, has campaigned hard for reelection.

Purcell said she has several goals for the next term, including the allocation of the $15,000,000 voters approved for repairs on the main Chariho campus.

“… it was repairs and improvements and not new construction was part of it,” she said. “And then, the elementary schools. That’ll be a focus moving forward: how to best make capital improvements and renovations at the elementary schools so that we have facilities for preschool and alternative education. I’d like to work on a policy for student representative and liaison. … I think student voice is really important to have in our decisions.”

Incumbent Karen Reynolds was losing on election night, trailing Republican Louise Dinsmore, but as more ballots were counted, she moved into second place. By Wednesday morning, she was ahead by 14 votes.

“I think Louise put up a great race. She was a formidable opponent. She was out there, working,” she said.

It will be Richmond’s turn this year to elect the School Committee Chair, and that person will be one of the four Richmond members. In addition to Purcell and, most likely, Reynolds, there are two Richmond committee members: Kathryn Colasante and Patricia Pouliot.

The State Races

Republican Elaine Morgan hung on to her District 34 Senate seat, defeating Democratic challenger Stephen Moffitt by a margin of 135 votes; 2,417 to 2,282.

In District 39, Megan Cotter, the incumbent Democrat who squeaked past Republican Justin Price by just 14 votes in the last election, had a more definitive victory this time; 2,517 votes to Price’s 2,150, a margin of 367 votes.

“Of course, I was nervous,” Cotter admitted on Wednesday. “There was no third party candidate. I wasn’t sure how this was going to play out, but I knocked on roughly 3,500 doors throughout Exeter, Richmond and Hopkinton. I talked to people. I did the work. So, I went into yesterday cautiously optimistic knowing that I did everything I possibly could to keep the seat. I did a good job representing the community and I hoped that they saw my hard work, and clearly, they did.”

The Ballot Questions

Constitutional Convention:

Reject: 3,181

Approve: 1,345

Higher Education Facilities: $160,500,000

Reject: 2,457

Approve: 2,171

Housing and Community Opportunity: $120,000,000

Approve: 2,370

Reject: 2,242

Green Economy Bonds, $53,000,000

Approve: 2,751

Reject: 1,757

Cultural Arts/Grant Economy Program: $10,000

Reject: 2,550

Approve: 2,058

Chariho Main Campus Upgrades: $15,000,000

Approve: 2,541

Reject: 2,068