Mattiello wins on mail ballots, Tiverton casino approved

DEMOCRAT NICHOLAS A. MATTIELLO has retained the Speaker of the House position in the General Assembly following a counting of the mail ballots for his Cranston district. He was behind Republican Steven Frias until the Board of Elections completed its counting on Thursday. / PBN FILE PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS
DEMOCRAT NICHOLAS A. MATTIELLO has retained the Speaker of the House position in the General Assembly following a counting of the mail ballots for his Cranston district. He was behind Republican Steven Frias until the Board of Elections completed its counting on Thursday. / PBN FILE PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

PROVIDENCE – Democratic House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello narrowly won re-election Thursday, following a count of absentee ballots in his Cranston district race, although the contest may not be over yet.

The count of ballots put Mattiello ahead of GOP challenger Steven Frias by 65 votes out of more than 7,000 cast, according to the R.I. Board of Elections. The total after mail-ins: 3,582 for Mattiello; 3,517 for Frias.

Prior to the count of absentee ballots, Mattiello had 147 fewer votes than his opponent.

In a statement issued after the vote was announced, Mattiello thanked voters: “I would like to thank the voters of District 15 in Cranston from the bottom of my heart.”

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Earlier in the day, Frias charged that fraud may have been committed and he would not accept the election results until an investigation was done, according to a report on WPRI.com. He reiterated his complaint and said he would file a complaint, according to WJAR-TV NBC 10.

In another count announced Thursday night, the Twin River Tiverton casino measure was approved by the town’s voters, 4,305 to 3,939, once all absentee ballots were included.

Local approval for the casino in Tiverton was a requirement for it to go forward. Proponents of the casino, including developer and owner Twin River Management Group, had wanted a count of all outstanding ballots in Tiverton before declaring a victory.

On Thursday night, in a statement, John E. Taylor Jr., chairman of the management group that owns both Twin River and Newport Grand, said of the vote: “We will now begin the process of developing the Twin River-Tiverton Casino-Hotel. We will do so understanding the town’s great sensitivity to the environment; the critical need for traffic improvements near the casino; and the importance of public safety.”

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