Incumbent Sheldon Whitehouse won the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in the Rhode Island primary on Tuesday.
In the general election in November, he will face state Rep. Patricia Morgan, who won the Republican nomination.
According to the State Department’s RI Voter Turnout Tracker, statewide turnout in the primary election was 9.9 percent just before polls closed at 8 p.m. The tracker found that as of 7:45 p.m. Tuesday, 54,101 people had voted in person, while nearly 12,000 had cast their ballots early and another 11,303 had cast their ballots by mail.
Voter turnout was apparently highest in Cranston, where a high-profile Republican primary in the race for mayor caused a stir.
Whitehouse, who is running for a fourth term, had a massive financial advantage over his Democratic opponent, Michael Costa, a former Republican gubernatorial candidate who lives in Bristol.
“It’s a very good feeling to have this kind of support from Democrats in Rhode Island from across the state,” Whitehouse told NBC 10 News after securing the nomination.
During the campaign, Whitehouse argued that cleaning up the U.S. Supreme Court and protecting Social Security were critical to Rhode Island’s future.
On the Republican side, Morgan, a state representative who represents West Warwick, Coventry and Warwick and formerly served as minority leader, won her party’s nomination.
“It’s a nice win and now I know I have to prepare tomorrow morning,” Morgan said after her victory in the primaries.
The focus of their program is border security and the fight against the offshore wind industry.
She defeated Warwick resident Ray McKay in the Senate primary.
There were no contested primaries in either of the two U.S. House of Representatives districts.
Last year, Democrat Gabe Amo faced nearly a dozen candidates to win his party’s nomination for Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District. When Democratic Rep. David Cicilline retired in 2023, Amo defeated 11 other Democrats – including the lieutenant governor – in a district where Democrats were considered favorites in a general election. Because of the large field, Amo ended up receiving only a third of the vote, placing first in that primary.
This year, however, things are going smoothly for Amo. None of his former rivals are seeking to replace him as he is running for a full term.
The other member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives delegation, new Democrat Seth Magaziner, also faced no challenge in the primaries.
Some races for seats in the General Assembly involved primaries.
NBC 10’s Leanna Faulk and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
