By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA

November 21, 2024

WEST KINGSTON – Richmond Democrats gathered Wednesday evening at the Shaidzon Beer Company to thank the volunteers who had helped their candidates win seats on the Town Council School Committee and the state legislature.

Four of the five members of the Town Council will be Democrats. Incumbent, Samantha Wilcox, was reelected, and Mark Reynolds, Dan Madnick and Jim Palmisciano also won seats. Jeffrey Dinsmore, the only Republican on the council, will fill the fifth seat.

Karen Reynolds and Jessica Purcell were reelected to represent Richmond on the Chariho School Committee.

Megan Cotter, the State Representative in District 39, was reelected, defeating Justin Price.

The celebration was casual, with the candidates providing a light dinner and snacks. Each volunteer was recognized and presented with a certificate.

“A celebration,” Cotter said. “It’s a give-back. We had a lot of great volunteers that did a lot of work for us, and we want to thank them all.”

While there was no gloating over the victories, there were references to local Democrats prevailing in one of the most conservative towns in the state.

Rhode Island Secretary of State Greg Amore, who supported Cotter’s campaign, also attended the party.

“What you did here, despite the hindrance of the national elections, is really remarkable, because we could go back in Rhode Island history and find maybe only a handful of cases where a Town Council flips the way this one flipped,” he said. “That is remarkable, and it really is about connecting to a human level with your neighbors, which is the formula. It’s the secret sauce.”

Democratic Town Committee Chair Chris Kona said the Richmond results were a bright spot in a bleak political landscape.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” he told the volunteers. “We have a lot of work to do inside Richmond, we have a lot of work to do outside of Richmond. It’s not going to stop today, it’s not going to stop next month. But we have leaders here now that are working to help make Richmond better.”

Newly-elected Town Council members Wilcox, Madnick, Palmisciano and Reynolds said they were looking forward to working together, with Dinsmore.

“We don’t always agree,” Wilcox said. “I can think of one example with each of the council elect in which we disagreed, but we found common ground.”

Madnick said, “It doesn’t mean we’re going to have 4-0, 5-0, 4-1, votes. It just means that we can have discussions and move on to the next topic, with respect.”

Palmisciano said he hoped the council, which has been hampered by internal divisions and squabbling, can now move ahead.

“One of the biggest things the town saw was the League of Women Voters [candidates’ forum]” he said. “When they saw that group of individuals up there who were civil, polite, working together, they responded by saying ‘this is what we want.’”

Reynolds added,

“I think it’ll be nice to have a cohesive, respectful, cooperative group that can work together and listen to everybody.”

School Committee

Purcell said the challenge on the School Committee would be to remain focused on the work that needs to be done.

“I think our main focus is to keep the focus where it should be – on what the district needs, and that’s not really up to one School Committee member to decide or a faction of School Committee members to decide, but if you look at our schedule coming up, it’s budget. Budget’s next,” she said.

Karen Reynolds said she hoped committee members would be able to listen to each other.

“I think every term has its ups and downs and pitfalls,” she said. “We’ll work through it. It’s all about listening to one another and finding out what the issues really are and coming to a consensus.”

Former Town Council and Democratic Town Committee President B. Joseph Reddish, who, for years, has urged residents to get involved in the politics of their town, described the election as a show of unity.

“Our committee and our community came together, and when you get the community together on common goals and common beliefs, it’s not about party at that time, it’s about common goals and unity, and that’s what came about. It’s getting out and listening to the community, which is one of the things we were missing over the years, listening to everyone.”

The town has not announced the date of the swearing-in ceremony.