Seven Declare Candidacy for Dist. 11 Special Election

There will be both Republican and Democrat primaries in the upcoming Dist. 11 special election.

A total of seven candidates filed declaration of candidacy paperwork by the Friday deadline, according to the office of Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea. Of them are three Democrats, three Republicans and one independent candidate.

The seat was vacated by former Sen. Christopher Ottiano, who resigned to focus on a new demanding job with Neighborhood Health Plan.

Full stories on each candidate will follow. In the meantime, here’s a list of the candidates:

Gregory Steven Blythe (I) of Portsmouth, Joan B. Chabot (R) of Tiverton, Kenneth Mendonca (R) of Portsmouth, John A. Pagliarini, Jr. (R) of Tiverton, Brett N. Pelletier (D) of Tiverton, Amy G. Rice (D) of Portsmouth, and James Arthur Seveney (D) of Portsmouth.

The primary will be held on Dec. 1. From there, one Republican and one Democrat will face off against Blythe on the Jan. 5 election.

Here are important dates for the election:

• October 26 Endorsement deadline (district committee)
• October 27 Endorsement deadline (state committee if district committee failed to endorse)
• November 1 Voter registration deadline for primary
• November 3 Nomination papers filed with local boards
• November 10 Primary mail ballot application deadline
• December 1 PRIMARY
• December 6 Voter registration deadline for election
• December 15 Election mail ballot application deadline
• January 5 ELECTION

Photo: Jim Seveney files his declaration paperwork at Portsmouth Town Hall on Friday. (Photo courtesy: Jim Seveney).