Yesterday was the deadline for people to declare as candidates to run in this fall’s elections.

It turns out that Mayor Frank Picozzi will face multiple challengers for re-election this year, following speculation throughout the spring that he would face City Council President Steve McAllister. McAllister ended up not running for any office.

With McAllister stepping out, School Committee Vice Chair Leah Hazelwood is stepping in to challenge Picozzi. Hazelwood, who was first elected to the committee in 2022, is running as a Democrat. Her seat on the School Committee is not up for election this year, and she will not resign her seat unless she beats Picozzi.

Hazelwood said that while she believes Picozzi “is a good mayor,” she wants to make sure that Warwick residents have a choice and her commitment to public service would make her a great mayor.

Two other mayoral candidates- Patrick Maloney, Jr. and John Ritchie- have filed to run to unseat Picozzi as well. Both are running as independents.

For the first time in Warwick’s history, the mayoral candidates will be running for a four-year-term- a change approved by the City Council in 2023.

When it comes to federal office, this election cycle locally is likely to be less dramatic than 2022’s, when Rhode Island’s Second Congressional District was considered to be a toss-up by most political prognosticators. With Democrat Seth Magaziner having bested Republican Allan Fung by 3.6% and Fung not seeking a rematch- Steve Corvi will be running on the GOP side- those same prognosticators expect a much easier road for Magaziner this time around, with the Cook Political Report, Sabato’s Crystal Ball and Split Ticket all putting the seat in their “Safe Democratic” category.

One race that is likely to be tight is the race for District 21 in the General Assembly, which was decided by only 38 votes in 2022. Following Camille Vella-Wilkinson’s decision not to seek reelection- citing her commitment to term limits- the seat is one of the Rhode Island GOP’s top pickup opportunities. Marie Hopkins, who lost to Vella-Wilkinson in 2022, will be getting a second crack at the seat against James McElroy, who is not running for re-election to the Ward 4 Council seat.

The RI GOP, however, has a lot of work to do to defend their only incumbent in Warwick. Anthony DeLuca, who beat Jennifer Rourke in 2022 by 4.9% of the vote, faces either a potential rematch or a matchup against Peter Appollonio, Jr. in November.  Democrats Rourke and Appollonio appear to be headed for a September primary.  Unlike 2022, DeLuca will not have to face a primary challenger.

On the City Council level, Ward 7 will have a three-way Democratic primary to replace McAllister. In total, four current City Councilors are not seeking  reelection, meaning that at least almost half of the council will consist of new members in 2025.

Warwick will also have a competitive School Committee race, with incumbents David Testa and Karen Bachus joined by two challengers- Sean Wiggins and Zachary Colon. Two citywide seats are up for election this year.

Independent candidates do not have to worry about primary elections, while Democrats and Republicans facing an inter-party challenge will appear on the statewide primary ballot on Sept. 10.

A full list of candidates who have filed to run to represent Warwick in any capacity is below, courtesy of the Rhode Island Secretary of State’s website. Candidates who filed after the Beacon's print deadline, and therefore were not in Thursday's physical newspaper, are listed in italics.

MAYOR:

Leah HAZELWOOD (D)

Patrick MALONEY, JR. (I)

Frank PICOZZI (I)*

John RITCHIE (I)

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES- RHODE ISLAND’S SECOND DISTRICT:

Seth MAGAZINER (D)*

Steve CORVI (R)

U.S. SENATE:

Sheldon WHITEHOUSE (D)*

Raymond MCKAY (R)

Patricia MORGAN (R)

Joel REYES (I)

STATE SENATE- DISTRICT 29:

Peter APPOLLONIO, JR. (D)

Jennifer ROURKE (D)

Anthony DELUCA (R)*

STATE SENATE- DISTRICT 30:

Mark MCKENNEY (D)*

STATE SENATE- DISTRICT 31:

Matthew LAMOUNTAIN (D)*

Lisa MORSE (R)

STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES- DISTRICT 19:

Joe MCNAMARA (D)*

STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES- DISTRICT 20:

David BENNETT (D)*

STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES- DISTRICT 21:

James MCELROY (D)

Marie HOPKINS (R)

STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES- DISTRICT 22:

Joseph SOLOMON, JR. (D)*

David STONE (R)

STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES- DISTRICT 23:

Joe SHEKARCHI (D)*

Dana TRAVERSIE (R)

STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES- DISTRICT 24:

Evan SHANLEY (D)*

STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES- DISTRICT 26:

Earl READ III (D)

Jeffrey FISHER (R)

Vincent MARZULLO (I)

CITY COUNCIL- WARD 1:

William FOLEY (D)*

CITY COUNCIL- WARD 2:

Jeremy RIX (D)*

John PAOLA (R)

CITY COUNCIL- WARD 3:

Bryan NAPPA (D)

Richard CASCELLA (R)

Dennis PAOLUCCI (I)

CITY COUNCIL- WARD 4:

Mike PENTA (D)

Steven HOPKINS (R)

Joanne MILLER (I)

CITY COUNCIL- WARD 5:

Ed LADOUCEUR (D)*

Michael KOERNER (I)

CITY COUNCIL- WARD 6:

William MUTO (D)

Beth LANE ITALIANE (R)

CITY COUNCIL- WARD 7:

Jackie ANDERSON (D)

John KIRBY (D)

Stephen MULCAHEY (D)

Roger CERESI (I)

Jeffrey CHAPDELAINE (I)

CITY COUNCIL- WARD 8:

Anthony SINAPI (D)*

CITY COUNCIL- WARD 9:

Vincent GEBHART (D)*

SCHOOL COMMITTEE- AT LARGE (NONPARTISAN- 2 TO ELECT)

Karen BACHUS*

Zachary COLON

Anthony CORRENTE, JR.

David TESTA*

Sean WIGGINS