NEWPORT — Dawn Euer, an attorney and activist who fought for marriage equality in Rhode Island, won Tuesday’s Democratic primary for state Senate District 13 by a landslide, getting twice as many votes as her nearest challenger.
Euer now heads to the general election Aug. 22 against Republican Michael Smith, Green Party candidate Gregory Larson and independent Kimberly Ripoli.
According to the uncertified results, Euer defeated Newport City Councilman John Florez, Newport School Committee Chairman David Hanos and David Allard, a state Department of Education employee and a former outreach coordinator for Gov. Gina Raimondo.
After polls closed in Newport and Jamestown at 8 p.m., volunteers at Hanos’ headquarters at the Elks Lodge off Bellevue Avenue began getting reports from the precincts.
It didn’t take long for the outcome to come into focus.
The first report came in from the Jamestown polling place. Euer received more than 300 votes there, while the rest of the field failed to crack 100.
Minutes later, Hanos saw Euer’s lead widen, and he muttered, “Oh well.”
The mood was exultant at the Firehouse Theater, where Euer and her supporters gathered. A big sheet of paper showing vote totals told the story.
By the end of the night, Euer had amassed 1,162 votes at the four polling places plus mail-in ballots, while Hanos, the next closest, received 567. Florez received 423 and Allard got 273.
Euer made a brief speech, thanking her campaign workers, and laying out her campaign planks.
“This is not about me,” she started. “This is about Newport and about Jamestown and about the community. And making sure there’s somebody at the Statehouse that puts people first.”
