Local Primary Contenders In State Races - WarwickPost.com

warwickpost.com · Rob Borkowski · September 7, 2026

# Local Primary Contenders In State Races - WarwickPost.com

Author: Rob Borkowski Published: 2026-09-07T15:40:57-04:00 Source: warwickpost.com (warwickpost.com) Language: en

## Story

[CREDIT: Rob Borkowski] Warwick primary voters have a few local contenders to choose from to place on the Nov. 3 ballot.WARWICK, RI — Early voting is in progress for the Sept. 9 primary, with local candidates contending for state spots on the general election ballot Nov. 3.

Here’s a brief guide on voters’ primary choices:

#### Governor Primary

Incumbent RI Governor Dan McKee and Helena Buonanno Foulkes, former President of CVS pharmacy, compete to put their respective names on the Democratic ballot in November. The candidates discussed their approaches to major state issue during WPRI12.com’s Democratic gubernatorial primary debate last month.

#### Lt. Governor Primary

The Lt. Governor democratic primary pits five candidates again each other in hopes of running against Republican John Loughlin. The primary candidates are:

Sue Ander Bois, progressive Providence City Councilor and state leader, working as Rhode Island’s first Director of Food Strategy and Northeast Climate & Energy Director at The Nature Conservancy.

Cindy Coyne, among the first women to graduate from the Rhode Island State Police Training Academy and a Rhode Island State Trooper for more than 20 years, earning Lieutenant rank. She represented Dist. 32 in the state senate for four terms, serving as Chair of the Judiciary Committee, championing successful legislation to ban ghost guns. She also backed legislation to help aging adults.

Xay Khamsyvoravong, former mayor of Newport, and former deputy chief of staff to Rhode Island state treasurer Frank Caprio, he helped navigate the financial crisis of 2008. He also served as chairman of Providence Water— one of the region’s largest water utilities— for nearly a decade. As chairman, he shifted the utility onto its own solar power, saving nearly $1 million a year in energy costs, helping to keep water rates among the lowest in the state, and helped pilot programs for lead service line replacements.

Sabina Matos, incumbent Lt. Governor, was first appointed to the post in 2021, then won her first four-year term in November 2022. She was the first Dominican American elected to statewide office in the United States. Since then, Matos has been championing:

- The Fair Price Grocery Agenda to lower foods prices - Employee ownership and succession planning of small businesses - Historic investments in affordable housing - Efforts to strengthen gun safety laws

Ross McCurdy, Air Force vet, serving from 1980 to 1986, according to Ballotopedia, as a Russian cryptologic linguist at the Defense Language Institute, and teacher and is running a campaign focused on protecting rights, strengthening public, systems, welcoming technical expertise, and publishing detail for voters to judge the work

#### Attorney General Primary

Democrats Kim Ahern, Keith Hoffman, Jason Knight, and current RI Dist. 22 Rep. Joseph J. Solomon Jr., are competing for the November ballot for Attorney General.

Hoffman Current RI Attorney General Peter Neronha, statutorily limited to two consecutive four-year terms, the last of which ends this year, has endorsed Hoffman, and attended his campaign announcement of his candidacy for the position, reported by WPRI12.

Neronha and his team, including Hoffman on the executive leadership team, have led a number of successful legal fights overturning illegal and economically damaging Trump Administration policies, including a June 2026 victory preventing President Donald Trump from freezing federal wind energy projects, a fight that delayed completion of the Revolution Wind project, which will provide a stable supply of electricity to the Rhode Island market, helping to prevent further rate hikes, according to an analysis by the he climate and clean energy nonprofit Acadia Center.

This summer, as President Trump continued the year-long fight that would’ve halted the project, Rhode Islanders began receiving dramatically increased electricity bills, largely the result of the cost increase of fossil-fuel dependent electricity [Electric Bills Shock RI, More Rate Hikes Due -WarwickPost.com] generation as Trump’s Iran War continues to limit shipping through the Straight of Hormuz.

Knight started as a prosecutor and special assistant attorney general in the RI Attorney General’s office under AG Patrick Lynch. He has represented Dist. 67 (Barrington and Warren) since 2016. He was named a Deputy Majority Leader in January 2021, and is the second vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee and is a member of the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee and the House State Government and Elections Committee.

Knight sponsored and co-sponsored gun safety measures in Rhode Island, including the 2025 assault weapons ban, the 2021 ban on straw purchases, restrictions on high-capacity magazines, safe storage requirements, a ban on bump stocks, and stronger local police review of gun sales. He co-sponsored and fought for the codification of Roe v. Wade into RI State Law in 2019, and numerous other reproductive freedom laws.

In 2025, the General Assembly enacted his legislation updating the state’s “revenge porn” law to include “deepfakes” — AI-generated content that imposes a person’s likeness onto explicit material. He enacted legislation allowing churches and religious organizations to allow for national criminal background checks for employees and volunteers working with children, closing a loophole to protect children.

Ahern has served as a Special Assistant Attorney General under three Rhode Island attorneys general — Peter Neronha, Peter Kilmartin, and Patrick Lynch. She was appointed as Deputy Counsel to Governor Gina Raimondo and Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Dan McKee, advising on policy and legal matters, including juvenile justice reform, reentry support, and housing.

When the COVID-19 crisis hit Rhode Island, Kim helped lead the stserved as the Attorney General’s representative on the Rhode Island Commission on Prejudice and Bias and worked closely with the office’s Civil Division, focusing on hate crimes and providing training to police departments across Rhode Island on civil rights, antisemitism, and LGBTQ+ issues.ate’s response, including efforts to provide food, housing, and other supports to the state’s most vulnerable populations.

Solomon has worked as a prosecutor, a bail commissioner, and state representative. He prosecuted “hundreds of criminal cases in the Warwick Solicitor’s Office,” according to his campaign website, and has spent more than a decade serving as a court-appointed bail commissioner. During his time in the General Assembly, he oversaw legislation involving financial institutions, business regulation, insurance, technology, telecommunications, and consumer protection. He’s passed laws to protect seniors from financial exploitation, combat catalytic converter theft, protect children and animals, hold insurance companies accountable, and strengthen consumer protections.

#### RI House Dist. 23 Primary

Tim Howe, Warwick City Council member from January 2017 through January 2025, and Bill Muto, current Ward 6 Warwick City Councillor, compete for the nomination to theDist. 23 long held by current Rep. Joe Shekarchi.

Shekarchi stepped down as House Speaker May 7, continuing to represent Dist. 23, but he isn’t running for reelection. Read more on this race here: [Howe, Muto Contend in Democratic Dist. 23 Primary Sept. 9]

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##### Author: Rob Borkowski

Rob has worked as reporter and editor for several publications, including The Kent County Daily Times and Coventry Courier, before working for Gatehouse in MA then moving home with Patch Media. Now he's publisher and editor of WarwickPost.com. Contact him at [email protected] with tips, press releases, adv

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Rhode Island News

September 2026