Cranston’s electoral races are packed at the starting line.

More than 200 people are running for Cranston offices, including the General Assembly, City Council, School Committee, Democratic and Republican Ward Committees, and Mayor.

The mayoral race is particularly heated with incumbent Kenneth J Hopkins (R) and state Rep. Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung (R) in a primary with the winner facing Democratic candidate Robert J Ferri in the General Election. Ferri is a current city-wide city council member, and Fenton-Fung is a sitting state representative for District 15.

In the General Assembly, incumbents Frank Lombardi (D, District 26) and Josh Miller (D, District 28) have chosen not to seek re-election. In General Assembly Senate District 26, Todd M. Patalano (D) and Jennifer L Caputi (R) are vying for the open seat.

For District 28, five Democrats are seeking the state senate seat, including Darrell A. Brown, Melissa Carden, John F. Croke Jr, Bernice Morris and Lammis J. Vargas. Christopher Lanen (D) withdrew from the race Monday, announcing he will not be submitting his required nomination papers.

Vargas leaves the position of Ward 1 City Council member open. In addition, term-limited Christopher G. Paplauskas (R, Ward 5) is leaving the Council to seek Fenton-Fung’s seat in District 15. Maria A. Bucci (D) is also running for the District 15 seat.

The Ward 3 seat is left open after John Donegan (D, Ward 3) chose not to seek re-election. Richard D Campopiano (R) is seeking a city-wide seat, leaving his former seat in Ward 4 open. Ferri, who is currently in a city-wide seat, is challenging for Mayor. Minority Leader Nicole Renzulli is also not seeking re-election for her city-wide seat.

In all, only four of nine current City Council members are running to remain on the council.

For the School Committee, both Keith C. Catone and Domenic Fusco Jr. are running unopposed for re-election in their Ward 1 and 3 seats, respectively. In Ward 2, incumbent Anna Medeiros will be challenged by Gregory P. Charpentier and Connor Mathis. Melanie Marchetti is running unopposed in Ward 4 after Frank Ritz, the current Ward 4 seat, chose to run for City Council (he's running against Democrat Alan H. Rudolph). The Ward 5 race is between Jeffrey M. DeVarnne and Andrea Soave Nadeau; and in Ward 6, Kathryn Mary Crowley and Marcus Stephenson are both seeking to fill the seat.

Current School Committee Chairman Michael Traficante (R) is running for City Council Ward 5 (term-limited); while Robert B. Lancia and Anthony Melillo are vying to fill his vacated seat on the School Committee. Traficante may be running against William T. White III (D) and Arthur P. Scavitti Sr. (I).

State Sen. Hanna Gallo (D, District 27) is running unopposed. Lisa Morse (R) is challenging incumbent Matthew LaMountain (D, District 31).

Of the nine state representative seats that represent Cranston, four are held by incumbents who are running unopposed:  Jacquelyn M. Baginski (D, District 17), Arthur Handy (D, District 18), Joseph McNamara (D, District 19) and David A. Bennett (D, District 20).

In District 14, incumbent Charlene Lima (D) is being challenged by Giona A. Picheco, another Democrat. District 16 sees Joseph R Graziano (D) and Deborah J Leong (R) challenging current representative Brandon C Potter (D). Republican incumbent Robert J. Quattrocchi is running against Shaina N. Smith (D) for District 41.

District 42 is hotly contested. Two Democrats and one Republican are challenging Edward T Cardillo Jr. (D) for his House of Representatives seat. This includes Kelsey Kristine Coletta (D), Richard Rawdon Fascia (R) and Dennis D. Cardillo Jr. (D), the nephew of Edward Cardillo Jr. In 2022, when Dennis D Cardillo Jr. challenged his uncle’s seat, it led to a family feud on the campaign trail.

Other elected positions include the party ward committees in addition to the senate and representative district committees.

Statewide primaries are held on Sept. 10 and the General Election is Nov. 5.

Nick Lima, Cranston’s Registrar and Director of Elections, has been hard at work verifying signatures (the process ends on July 12).

He offered an update on social media Monday afternoon.

“(As) anticipated, a very large volume of nomination papers for Cranston candidates was received today,” Lima wrote. “Our office has been validating them in the order received, a process which will continue throughout the week. It will take time for all validated signatures to appear online.”

Candidates aren’t officially in the race until their signatures are verified.

“In Cranston, our office currently has about a 25-hour turnaround time on candidate nomination signatures — meaning for papers dropped off yesterday at 9:30 a.m., we are validating them today at 10:30 a.m.” Lima wrote late Tuesday morning. “We expect to continue catching up throughout the day and into tomorrow.”

THE CANDIDATES

(* Indicates incumbent)

Mayor:

Robert J. Ferri (D)

Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung (R)

Kenneth J. Hopkins (R)*

General Assembly Senate District 26:

Todd M. Patalano (D)

Jennifer L. Caputi (R)

General Assembly Senate District 27:

Hanna Gallo (D)*

General Assembly Senate District 28:

Darrell A. Brown (D)

Melissa Carden (D)

John F. Croke Jr (D)

Bernice Morris (D)

Lammis J. Vargas (D)

General Assembly Senate District 31:

Matthew LaMountain (D)*

Lisa Morse (R)

General Assembly Representative District 14:

Charlene Lima (D)*

Giona A Picheco (D)

General Assembly Representative District 15:

Maria A. Bucci (D)

Christopher G. Paplauskas (R)

General Assembly Representative District 16:

Joseph R. Graziano (D)

Brandon C. Potter (D)*

Deborah J. Leong (R)

General Assembly Representative District 17:

Jacquelyn M. Baginski (D)*

General Assembly Representative District 18:

Arthur Handy (D)*

General Assembly Representative District 19:

Joseph McNamara (D)*

General Assembly Representative District 20:

David A. Bennet (D)*

General Assembly Representative District 41:

Shaina N. Smith (D)

Robert J. Quattrocchi (R)*

General Assembly Representative District 42:

Edward T. Cardillo Jr. (D)*

Dennis D. Cardillo Jr. (D)

Kelsey Kristine Coletta (D)

Richard Rawdon Fascia (R)

City Council Ward 1:

Bridget R. Graziano (D)

Melissa R. Potter (D)

Brian A. Moretti (R)

City Council Ward 2:

Kristen E. Haroian (D)*

John P. Colasante (R)

City Council Ward 3:

Andy M. Andujar (D)

Michael Mangiarelli (D)

Charlotte Jimenez Toolan (D)

Maria Santos (R)

City Council Ward 4:

Alan H. Rudolph (D)

Frank Ritz (R)

City Council Ward 5:

William T. White III (D)

Michael A. Traficante (R)

Arthur P. Scavitti Sr. (I)

City Council Ward 6:

Daniel R. Wall (D)*

Marc Bochner (R)

City Council Citywide:

Jesse L. Dooley (D)

Daniel Ivanov (D)

Jessica M. Marino (D)*

Lauryn Pregoni Camara (D)

Christopher Edward Buonanno (R)

Richard D. Campopiano (R)

Paul W. Stascavage (R)

School Committee Ward 1:

Keith C. Catone*

School Committee Ward 2:

Gregory P. Charpentier

Connor Mathis

Anna Medeiros*

School Committee Ward 3:

Domenic Frank Fusco Jr.*

School Committee Ward 4:

Melanie Marchetti

School Committee Ward 5:

Jeffrey M. DeVarnne

Andrea Soave Nadeau

School Committee Ward 6:

Kathryn Mary Crowley

Marcus Stephenson

School Committee City Wide:

Robert B. Lancia

Anthony Melillo

Democrat Ward Committee:

Ward 1

Michael Beauregard

Leonard M. Cabral

Beth A. Cotter

Darlene A. Griffin

Matthew Jerzyk

Eileen M. Sweeney

Lammis J. Vargas

Ward 2

Paula Frances Caiozzo

Allan A. Callejas-Reyes

Jesse L. Dooley

Joseph R. Graziano

Kristen E. Haroian

Connor J. Mathis

Justin C. McCarthy

Curtis R. Ponder

Louis G. Rainone

Matthew A. Souza

Ward 3

Jose C. Alves

Paul H. Archetto

Laura A. Donegan

John P. Donegan

Grank J. Fiorenzano

Susan M. Kelley

Michael Mangiarelli

Grace E. Swinski

Gennaro Anthony Trombetti

Ward 4

John Conti

James J. Ginolfi

Jacqueline Norma Hersey

Nicholas P. Manocchio

Joseph F. Marino

Amy Murro

Peter M Rivelli

David J. Rudolph

Ward 5

David A. Alden Sears

Nicholas J. Capobianco Jr

Lori-Ann Carlino

Mario G. Carlino

Stephen W. Ciambrone

Michelle M. David

Jessica M. David

Beatrice A. Lanzi

Adam J. Lupino

Ward 6

Kenneth John Filarski

Harry T. Garabedian

Mark Dennis Lebeau

Matthew David Lenz

Alice D. Petrone

Robert J. Ricci

Emilia Vaziri

Dylan M. Zelazo

Amanda Zelazo

Republican Ward Committee:

Ward 2

John P. Colasante

Ward 3

Jason M. Case

Domenic Frank Fusco Jr

Deborah J. Leong

Ward 4

Barbara Ann Fenton Fung

Allan Wai Ket Fung

Frank Ritz

Thomas R. Trudell

Ward 5

Thomas A. Desio

Christopher G Paplauskas

Nicole Renzulli

Ernese Tommasiello

Joao C. Vasconcelos

Ward 6

Marc Bochner

Christopher Edward Buonanno

Steven Frias

Joseph Gabriele

Kenneth J. Hopkins

Anthony J. Mastantuono

Anthony J. Melillo

Paula A Smith

Representative District Committee (Vote for 3)

District 15

Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung (R)

Steven Frias (R)

Allan WK Fung (R)

Jessica M. Marino (D)

Frank A. Montanaro (D)

District 16

Allan A. Callejas-Reyes (D)

Elana M. Leanna (D)

Harrison S. Tuttle (D)

District 17

Matthew D. Lenz (D)

Jessica M. Pelino (D)

Richard D. Santamaria (D)

District 18

Beth A. Cotter (D)

Representative District Committee (Vote for 5)

District 14

Elizabeth A. Gordon (D)

John A. Iodice (D)

Paula BM McFarland (D)

Michael J. Sepe (D)

District 19

Christopher E. Friel (D)

Margaret A. Malcolm (D)

Alfred Notarianni III (D)

Patrick Paolozzi (D)

District 20

Ann S. Bennett (D)

Robert G. Carlow (D)

Markella C. Carnevale (D)

Shaelin G. Donovan (D)

Mary J. Gatta (D)

District 27

Domenic Dimasi (D)

Constance Petrarca (D)

Ashley Rita (D)

James M. Rita (D)

Nathan Shapiro (D)

District 41

David Campbell (R)

Jennifer A. Klimaj (R)

Scott B. Klimaj (R)

Charles C. Zayat (R)

District 42

Alfred A. Almonte (D)

Brian G. Blamires (D)

Patricia D. Cardillo (D)

Anna Maria Cole (D)

David M. Coletta (D)

Kelsey K. Coletta (D)

Jessica M. David (D)

Louis J. Spremulli (D)

Emily J Witter (D)

Senate District Committee (Vote for 5)

District 26

Joseph Baginski (D)

Mario G. Carlino (D)

Cheryl A. Croft (No Party)

Beatrice A. Lanzi (D)

Kevin M. Lynch (D)

Senate District Committee (Vote for 7)

District 27

Joseph Crowley (D)

Matthew Decubellis (D)

David C. Dimaio (D)

Scott G. Duhamel (D)

Deborah A. Hayden (D)

Stephanie AD Mandeville (D)

Gabriel Rei (D)

District 28

Carol Y. Aguasvivas (D)

James O. Daley (D)

Pamela Hanson Carbone (D)

Paula BM McFarland (D)

District 31

Serena Conely (D)

Christopher E Friel (D)

Ana Y. Kennedy (D)

Michelle Olga Komar (D)

John D. Lynch Jr. (D)

Mary Ellen McNulty (D)

Katelyn M. Revens (D)