Senators Lawson and Ciccone teaming up to try to lead R.I. Senate after president Dominick Ruggerio’s death - The Boston Globe (2025)

But Senator Ryan W. Pearson, who challenged Ruggerio in a November caucus and is now also contending for the Senate presidency, provided a one-word response to the claim that Lawson and Ciccone have the support they need: “False.”

Ciccone’s record on abortion, gun, and climate bills is alarming some Democrats, including those who backed Pearson in his challenge to Ruggerio.

Ciccone, a Providence Democrat who chairs the Senate Labor & Gaming Committee, is a gun rights supporter and licensed gun dealer who voted against the gun safe storage bill last year. He would be assuming one of the top leadership positions at a time when the Senate is considering a bill to ban assault-style weapons.

In 2019, Ciccone voted against the Reproductive Privacy Act, which codified Roe v. Wade to protect abortion rights in Rhode Island. In 2023, he voted against the Equality in Abortion Coverage Act, which allows state employees and Medicaid recipients to receive health insurance coverage for all abortions.

And earlier this year, Ciccone joined Senate Republicans in co-sponsoring a bill to repeal the Act on Climate, which makes the state’s goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions mandatory and enforceable.

Critics are also focused on Ciccone’s involvement in a 2012 episode in which Barrington police say Ciccone tried to intervene after officers stopped Ruggerio, who was senate majority leader at the time, on suspicion of drunken driving. Police said Ciccone tried to call top police officials to deal with “the problem’’ and warned an officer, “You think you got pension problems now, wait till this . . . is all done.’” (Ruggerio ended up pleading guilty to refusing the Breathalyzer test, and a DUI charge was dismissed.)

Supporters note that Ciccone introduced a 2023 bill to raise the top income tax rate on Rhode Island’s richest residents (it did not pass), and he sponsored a 2022 bill granting driving privilege cards and permits to undocumented Rhode Islanders. (It passed and became law). Also, some senators suggest the assault weapons ban could still pass if Lawson is president.

Ciccone, who worked as business manager of Rhode Island Judicial, Professional, and Technical Employees Local Union 808, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

With Ruggerio’s death, the Senate now has 37 members, including 33 Democrats and four Republicans. So a simple majority of 19 votes would be needed to become Senate president, and 17 votes would be needed to become the Democratic majority leader.

No Democratic caucus has been scheduled, and a caucus is not expected until after Ruggerio’s funeral on Monday.

But it’s clear that some Democrats, including those who backed Pearson, are uneasy about the prospect of Ciccone as the Democratic majority leader.

Ciccone ”is someone whose vision doesn’t align with the trajectory the Senate has been on for five years regarding reproductive health, including abortion, and common sense gun laws, including an assault weapons ban,” said Senator Tiara T. Mack, a Providence Democrat.

Mack — who co-chairs the Rhode Island Black, Latino, Indigenous, Asian-American and Pacific Islander Caucus — said she is concerned that for the second year in a row, the Senate is heading into the home stretch of a legislative session without a clear plan for how it will address key issues such as housing, school funding, and threats to the health care system.

“We are at an inflection point: integrity matters, and mistrust of government is high,” said Senator Meghan E. Kallman, a Pawtucket Democrat. “I was elected to serve District 15 based on clear values: making ambitious policy that helps working people, and being part of a chamber that operates with integrity. The US is under attack from far-right extremists who want to strip away our rights and our due process, and who want to let billionaires and dictators run the show.”

In Rhode Island, officials are committed to both democratic and Democratic politics, Kallman said.

“I will only vote for someone to lead the Senate in any capacity who demonstrates that integrity and accountability in their actions, and who offers full-throated support of the issues that my constituents care about, including transparency in politics, economic opportunity for everyone, a fair tax code, bodily autonomy, addressing the climate crisis, and commonsense gun safety,” she said.

Senator Jonathon Acosta, a Central Falls Democrat, said, “Whoever wishes to assume the role of Senate president should be able to articulate a vision for the last six to eight weeks for our chamber and our party and what is going to be in the budget. We should be in the loop about what’s in and what’s out and what bills we can expect to get passed before the end of the session.”

Also, Acosta said, “This is an opportunity for us to come together rather than harden these divisions that emerged in the last caucus. We need party unity at the state level and federal level. We are the ones who should be building consensus with fellow Democrats, not the four Republicans.”

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Louis P. DiPalma, a Middletown Democrat who backed Ruggerio over Pearson in the November caucus, said, “However we the Senate move forward, we need to ensure we are carrying on the exemplary legacy of our former Senate president and most importantly friend, Donny.”

Lawson did not return calls seeking comment Wednesday.

Calling hours for Ruggerio will be from 3 to 8 p.m. Sunday at the Maceroni Funeral Home, 1381 Smith St., North Providence, with additional calling hours from 8:30 to 10 a.m. on Monday. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Saint Anthony Church, 1413 Mineral Spring Ave., North Providence.

This article has been updated with additional information about the brewing contest to lead the state Senate.

Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.