Saturday, November 17, 2012
The council elect voted this morning during a special session
The newly elected Middletown Town Council has approved the nomination of Chris Semonelli as president, during a special meeting held Saturday morning at Town Hall. Semonelli's nomination was proposed by Barbara VonVillas, and was approved by a 6-1 vote, with Theresa Santos opposed. Robert Sylvia was nominated as vice-chairman, backed by an unanimous vote. The council elect will vote on the nominations on Monday. According to the charter, “The president shall preside at meetings, and shall be recognized as head of the town government for all ceremonial purposes, and by the governor for purposes of military law. The president shall have the same right to speak and vote as any other members.” Congratulations Chris Semonelli! What do you …
Friday, November 16, 2012
Who do you think should serve as the next Middletown Town Council president?
Next week, the newly elected Middletown Town Council will decide who will serve as the next council president. Although the decision will be made by council members, Patch would like to know what residents think. According to the Middletown Town Charter, “The president shall preside at meetings, and shall be recognized as head of the town government for all ceremonial purposes, and by the governor for purposes of military law. The president shall have the same right to speak and vote as any other members” Take the poll and tell us who would make the best president in the comments below. The seven member council is listed in order of the number of votes received last Tuesday.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
The final results for 2012 Middletown Elections
After nearly a two day wait, the final election results are in from the Rhode Island Board of Elections. The complete election results can be found on the bottom of the article. Here are some highlights: Middletown Town Council, More than Half the Seats Change There will be four new faces on the seven member council. Three councilors were not re-elected, including Council President Arthur Weber as well as Councilors Antone Viveiros and Edward Silveira. Richard Cambra did not run for re-election. Voters re-elected Bruce Long, Christopher Semonelli and Barbara Vonvillas for the two year term. Former council members Theresa Santos, Robert Sylvia, and Paul Rodrigues, a former council president, also won seats, along with Richard Adams…
The final results are expected Thursday afternoon
Although the Board of Elections was busy counting the 25,000 absentee ballots on Wednesday, they were unable to finish by the end of the day, which leaves candidates in tight races still uncertain about the results. Two candidates that are anxiously awaiting those results are State House Representative Dan Reilly in District 72 which serves Middletown and sections of Portsmouth, as well his challenger Linda Finn. Without the absentee votes, Finn is up by 87 votes. The results from those mail-in ballots are expected by Thursday afternoon. “At this point, I am anxiously awaiting the results of the mail ballots, which I do believe will make this race even closer, if not successful for me,” said Reilly. Finn won Middletown by 296 votes but …
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
The final results are expected this afternoon.
[update Wed 4:00 p.m.: The Board of Elections has announced results from the absentee ballots will not be made available until Thursday afternoon] As the Board of Elections tallies the absentee ballots today, incumbent State House of Representatives candidate Dan Reilly, District 72 (Middletown, Portsmouth), remains optimistic about the race. “At this point, I am anxiously awaiting the results of the mail ballots, which I do believe will make this race even closer, if not successful for me,” said Reilly. Although challenger Linda Finn of Middletown leads by 87 votes, the absentee ballots are still outstanding. Between the two towns, over 1700 voters requested a mail-in ballot. The Board of Elections said an official count will be available…
Although there are 700 absentee ballots outstanding, it appears Middletown Town Council will have new faces.
[updated at 9:30 a.m. The official count will be available around 2 p.m. this afternoon, according to officials.] After Tuesday's election, Middletown Town Council might have several new members. The results do not include 700 absentee ballots that remain to be counted. Three incumbents did not receive enough votes for re-election, including current Council President Arthur Weber. Councilors Edward Silveria and Antone Viveiros also did not receive enough votes at the polls. Councilor Richard Cambra did not seek re-election. Challenger Paul Rodrigues was the top vote-getter for Middletown Council, pulling in 3262 total votes. "I am very proud," said his 88 year-old mother, Georginna Rodrigues with a wide smile during the democratic …
Rhode Island voters favor Democrats in election.
It was a good night for Democrats Tuesday in Rhode Island. In Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District David Cicilline was able to win a second term against a tough race fought against Republican Brendan Doherty. The former head of the Rhode Island State Police strongly criticized Cicilline during the course of the campaign over his final leadership of the city of Providence when he was mayor for eight before heading to Washington two years ago. In the 2nd Congressional District James Langevin was able to win a seventh term over Republican Michael Riley. Riley reportedly lent his campaign more than $600,000. Langevin cited as accomplishments his work to maintain submarine production at Electric Boat and efforts to strengthen job training …
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
President Obama defeated Republican Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election.
President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden were re-elected Tuesday night, defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney and his vice-presidential running mate Rep. Paul Ryan. NBC News called the presidential election for Obama around 11:15 EST. The president sent a message on Twitter at 10:14 saying simply, "This happened because of you. Thank you." The Obama campaign won the most expensive presidential race ever, with both parties raising about $2.6 billion. The race was filled with negative campaigning on both sides, from President Obama attacking Romney’s business experience with Bain Capital to Romney lambasting Obama’s handling of the economy. The race tightened during the final months of the campaign, with gaffes and surges …
Updates on the 2012 federal and state elections will be posted here throughout the day. Connect with us on Twitter at #PatchElections.
Check back at your local Patch all day for live election updates. In the race for President of the United States, influential Rhode Island political insiders have weighed in regarding who has run the better "ground game" in Rhode Island leading up to the election during our latest Red Rhody/Blue Rhody political survey. According to our results, Democratic influencers felt Obama has run a better ground campaign by a wide margin while a majority of Republican influencers surveyed said the ground campaign up to this point has been even. In 2008, Rhode Island voted Democratic with 296,571 voters casting ballots for the Obama-Biden team. Republican John McCain and Sarah Palin earned 165,391 votes. According to the Rhode Island Secretary of …
The following numbers do not represent the official count as provided by the Town of Middletown, which includes absentee ballots.
After a long day of voting, the polls are closed and the results have been counted! Challenger Paul Rodrigues was the top vote-getter for Middletown Council, pulling in 3262 total votes. "I am very proud," said his 88 year-old mother, Georginna Rodrigues with a wide smile. Council president Arthur Weber as well as incumbents Ed Silveria and Antone Viveiros and did not receive enough votes for re-election. According to the counts at the polls, the following candidates will make up the new council. There are approximately 700 absentee ballots in Middletown that are not included in the final numbers. The race for the seat in the State House of Representatives between incumbent Daniel Reilly and challenger Linda Finn remains very close. "…
Cares About Middletown
7:11 am on Wednesday, November 21, 2012
I couldn't agree with you more. And he's also the same guy that tried to give out big pay raises to Middletown personnel on his way out the door the last time he was on the council. But he's back and we're stuck with him for another 2 years. more ›