Voting in District 11 Senate Primary Underway

Voters in Rhode Island’s Senate District 11 are voting Tuesday to pick a Republican and Democrat to face an Independent in the Jan. 5 special election to fill the seat vacated by former Sen. Christopher Ottiano, a Republican who has endorsed a Democrat.

Polls close at 8 p.m. and and results, excluding absentee ballots, should be tabulated later Tuesday night.

Three Republicans and three Democrats are running in respective primaries. (click on a name to get to campaign pages).

Squaring off In the Democratic primary are Portsmouth Town Councilman James Seveney, lawyer and former Rep. Amy Rice and Brett Pelletier, a member of the Tiverton Town Council.

Running for the GOP nomination are Joan Chabot, a member of the Tiverton Town Council; John Pagliarini, a lawyer; and Kenneth Mendonca of Portsmouth, a defense contractor program manager and lifelong East Bay resident.

The winner of each primary will be running against Greg Blythe of Portsmouth, who is running as an Independent. Blythe is a local youth sports coach and store manager at Naval Station Newport.

Ottiano vacated the seat in October after accepting demanding job at Neighborhood Health Plan. The former senator has endorsed Seveney, citing his experience working with the councilman on issues affecting the East Bay and Portsmouth.

Meanwhile, Tiverton Democrats have endorsed Pelletier.

The district encompasses Portsmouth, Bristol and Tiverton.

To find your polling place, go HERE.

The deadline to register to vote in the Jan 5 special election is Dec. 6.

Results will be posted by the state Board of Elections HERE.

Not sure if you’re in District 11? A high resolution map can be found HERE.

Photo: Amy Rice casts her ballot in Portsmouth on Tuesday.