Giarrusso Wins R.I. House Dist. 30 Seat

In the end, West Greenwich handed Anthony Giarrusso victory in the contest for R.I. House Dist. 30.

With mail ballots finally counted Thursday, the Republican had 3,304 votes, Democrat Mark Schwager had 3,223 votes, and independent Kevin McDonough had 904 votes. But in East Greenwich, Schwager led 3,053 to Giarrusso's 3,010, and McDonough's 826.

While there are provisional ballots still to be counted, they are too few to alter the result.

"I'm really looking forward to it," said Giarrusso late Thursday about his new job. But, he acknowledged, "We're definitely going to have some hard work to do, some hard choices."

The Republican minorities in the General Assembly are even smaller now after Tuesday's election, with the number of GOP state representatives down to 6 from 10 and state senators to 5 from 8.

Giarrusso said he'd already been in touch with other Republicans in the GA, including Sen. Dawson Hodgson, who won re-election Tuesday. He said he'd also heard from Schwager.

"Dr. Schwager already reached out to me," Giarrusso said. "He was the first person on record to address me as 'Representative.'"

For Schwager, the loss was tough. This was his second attempt at statewide office, having lost in the race for state Senate Dist. 35 against Hodgson two years ago.

"I'm feeling an unlikely kinship to Mitt Romney," the Democrat said. Still, he said, "it was a very up and up campaign. I wish him well."

Schwager continued, "It's a great community and I'll continue to be involved."

McDonough, in a comment on EG Patch Wednesday, congratulated whoever was named the winner and added, "Thank you to democracy and our peaceful process of governmental change. I learned a great deal from my first endeavor into politics and I enjoyed the process. I met many wonderful people."

Giarrusso said as state rep he wanted to focus on serving the people of District 30: "I want to hear everyone's concerns."