Democrats sweep statewide offices

November 5, 2014 6:41 pm

By Melissa Randall

It was a clean sweep for democrats in the ocean state from the top down.

The governor and all the other statewide offices going to the party and the victory being credited to a united front from the candidates.

“Relieved. Happy. Excited and just overwhelmed with joy, really,” said Rep. Joe Shekarchi.

The list of democrats voted into offices include Cumberland Mayor Dan McKee for Lieutenant Governor, Seth Magaziner for Treasurer, Attorney General Peter Kilmartin and Nellie Gorbea who will be the next Secretary of State.

The strong showing by Democrats right here in Rhode Island is particularly interesting especially when you consider that nationwide republican’s who owned the night.

Rhode Island‘s Democratic Party coordinated campaign chair Joe Shekarchi explains the divide, “Inside the Rhode Island Democratic Party we’re very diverse we have a progressive wing, a moderate wing, a conservative wing and it’s all about the individuals.”

We posed the same question to political science professor June Speakman of Roger Williams University.

“It’s a small state. Everyone knows everybody. These are politicians with whom voters feel comfortable.”

While republicans here lost across the board on the state wide level, they did pick up 5 seats in the House of Representatives nearly doubling their presence.