Tuesday evening, after all the votes are counted, the City of Newport and all of its residents may be welcoming new members of the community to their School Committee and City Council.

Since we love numbers, we decided to dig into the data from the last four elections.

Newport City Council At-Large:

In the last 4 elections (2014, 2012, 2010 & 2008), the top vote getter on Newport City Council has averaged 4,725 votes, the candidates who have landed fifth with votes ( a.k.a. the first loser) have averaged 3,348.

The average candidate to make the top four in each election has averaged 3,608 in 2014, 4,936 in 2012, 3,606 in 2010 and 5,074 in 2008.

To no surprise, that largest turnout over the last 4 elections was in 2008, when President Obama was first elected. In 2008, Jeanne Marie Napolitano received 5,817 votes and the lowest vote getter Herbert Armstrong received  3,328 votes.

Newport City Council Ward 1:

Ward 1 will see one of the biggest battles in recent history when Susan Taylor takes on Marco Camacho. 1,703 votes have been cast on average in Ward 1 and the most recent close race was in 2012 when Marco Camacho defeated Charles Duncan with 56.6% of the vote.

Newport School Committee:

In the last 4 elections, the top vote getter on Newport School Committee has averaged 4,367 votes, the candidates who have landed eighth with votes (a.k.a. the first loser) have averaged 3,026 votes. In 2012, only 7 candidates ran so there was no loser.

In 2016, 6 candidates are running for four seats  on Newport City Council and 12 candidates are running for seven seats on Newport School Committee.

The average canidate to make the top four in each election has averaged 2,954 in 2014, 4,767 in 2012, 3,748 in 2010 and 4,273 in 2008.

While the largest turnout for votes was also in 2008, Jo  Eva Gaines received the most a candidate has seen in the last four elections when she received 5,114 in 2012.

Here’s how the last four elections have broken down for each race;

  • 2014 – 7 candidates for City Council, 12 candidates for School Committee
  • 2012 – 5 candidates for City Council, 7 candidates for School Committee
  • 2010 – 8 candidates for City Council, 9 candidates for School Committee
  • 2008 – 6 candidates for City Council, 12 candidates for School Committee

Election Results: (via Rhode Island Board of Elections)

2014

NON-PARTISAN COUNCIL NEWPORT WARD 1

Candidate Total votes Pct
Marco T. CAMACHO 1281 89.3%
WRITE-IN 153 10.7%

NON-PARTISAN COUNCIL NEWPORT WARD 2

Candidate Total votes Pct
Lynn Underwood CEGLIE 1290 52.5%
Martha Marie GROGAN 1159 47.2%
WRITE-IN 9 0.4%

NON-PARTISAN COUNCIL NEWPORT WARD 3

Candidate Total votes Pct
Kathryn LEONARD 1301 56.1%
John G. EDWARDS, V 1016 43.8%
WRITE-IN 2 0.1%

NON-PARTISAN COUNCIL-AT-LARGE CITY OF NEWPORT

4 to elect
Candidate Total votes Pct
Naomi L. NEVILLE 3667 16.9%
Justin S. McLAUGHLIN 3622 16.7%
Jeanne Marie NAPOLITANO 3615 16.6%
John F. FLOREZ 3530 16.2%
Henry F. WINTHROP 3308 15.2%
Michael T. FARLEY 2707 12.5%
Claude Andrews LAVARRE 1205 5.5%
WRITE-IN 72 0.3%

NON-PARTISAN SCHOOL COMMITTEE CITY OF NEWPORT

7 to elect
Candidate Total votes Pct
Jo Eva GAINES 3286 10.6%
Kathleen M. SILVIA 3235 10.5%
David Charles HANOS, JR. 3021 9.8%
Sandra J. FLOWERS 2937 9.5%
Rebecca BOLAN 2816 9.1%
Robert J. LEARY 2777 9.0%
David R. CARLIN, III 2609 8.5%
Thomas S. PHELAN 2408 7.8%
Michael J. CULLEN 2257 7.3%
Robert B. POWER 1970 6.4%
Charles W. HUMPHREY 1875 6.1%
Margaret A. KIRSCHNER 1643 5.3%
WRITE-IN 39 0.1%

2012

NON-PARTISAN COUNCIL-AT-LARGE CITY OF NEWPORT

4 to elect
Candidate Total votes Pct
Jeanne Marie NAPOLITANO 5318 23.3%
Henry F. WINTHROP 5198 22.8%
Naomi L. NEVILLE 5109 22.4%
Michael T. FARLEY 4119 18.0%
Donald P. BOUCHER 2953 12.9%
WRITE-IN 150 0.7%

NON-PARTISAN COUNCIL NEWPORT WARD 1

Candidate Total votes Pct
Marco T. CAMACHO 1155 56.6%
Charles Y. DUNCAN 880 43.1%
WRITE-IN 6 0.3%

NON-PARTISAN COUNCIL NEWPORT WARD 2

Candidate Total votes Pct
Justin S. McLAUGHLIN 2215 98.3%
WRITE-IN 39 1.7%

NON-PARTISAN COUNCIL NEWPORT WARD 3

Candidate Total votes Pct
Kathryn LEONARD 2057 97.0%
WRITE-IN 63 3.0%

NON-PARTISAN SCHOOL COMMITTEE CITY OF NEWPORT

7 to elect
Candidate Total votes Pct
Jo Eva GAINES 5114 15.2%
Charles P. SHOEMAKER, JR. 4994 14.9%
Sandra J. FLOWERS 4771 14.2%
Robert J. LEARY 4742 14.1%
Rebecca BOLAN 4628 13.8%
Thomas S. PHELAN 4619 13.8%
Robert B. POWER 4505 13.4%
WRITE-IN 173 0.5%

2010

NON-PARTISAN COUNCIL NEWPORT WARD 1

Candidate Total votes Pct
Charles Y. DUNCAN 982 63.4%
Alan F. SULLIVAN 568 36.6%

NON-PARTISAN COUNCIL NEWPORT WARD 2

Candidate Total votes Pct
Justin S. McLAUGHLIN 1214 50.2%
Michael T. FARLEY 1205 49.8%

NON-PARTISAN COUNCIL NEWPORT WARD 3

Candidate Total votes Pct
Kathryn LEONARD 1326 59.5%
Rudd C. HALL 901 40.5%

NON-PARTISAN COUNCIL-AT-LARGE CITY OF NEWPORT

4 to elect
Candidate Total votes Pct
Jeanne Marie NAPOLITANO 4100 18.5%
Henry F. WINTHROP 3649 16.5%
Stephen C. WALUK 3367 15.2%
Naomi L. NEVILLE 3311 14.9%
Stephen R. COYNE 2956 13.3%
Herbert B. ARMSTRONG 2117 9.6%
Susan T. PERKINS 1711 7.7%
Rebecca A. BRINGHURST 948 4.3%

NON-PARTISAN SCHOOL COMMITTEE CITY OF NEWPORT

7 to elect
Candidate Total votes Pct
Charles P. SHOEMAKER, JR. 4015 12.5%
Jo Eva GAINES 3960 12.4%
Sandra J. FLOWERS 3829 12.0%
Robert J. LEARY 3817 11.9%
Rebecca BOLAN 3779 11.8%
Patrick K. KELLEY 3650 11.4%
Thomas S. PHELAN 3191 10.0%
Lynn U. CEGLIE 3167 9.9%
James B. ASBEL 2591 8.1%

2008

NON-PARTISAN COUNCIL-AT-LARGE CITY OF NEWPORT

4 to elect
Candidate Total votes Pct
Jeanne Marie NAPOLITANO 5817 20.9%
Stephen R. COYNE 5214 18.8%
Mary C. CONNOLLY 4759 17.1%
Stephen C. WALUK 4509 16.2%
Marvin L. ABNEY 4177 15.0%
Herbert B. ARMSTRONG 3328 12.0%

NON-PARTISAN COUNCIL NEWPORT WARD 1

Candidate Total votes Pct
Charles Y. DUNCAN 1787 100.0%

NON-PARTISAN COUNCIL NEWPORT WARD 2

Candidate Total votes Pct
Justin S. McLAUGHLIN 2306 100.0%

NON-PARTISAN COUNCIL NEWPORT WARD 3

Candidate Total votes Pct
Kathryn LEONARD 1639 58.7%
James A. DRING 1152 41.3%

NON-PARTISAN SCHOOL COMMITTEE CITY OF NEWPORT

7 to elect
Candidate Total votes Pct
Jo Eva GAINES 5055 11.4%
Charles P. SHOEMAKER, JR. 4741 10.7%
Sandra J. FLOWERS 4478 10.1%
Patrick K. KELLEY 4368 9.8%
Rebecca BOLAN 3912 8.8%
Robert J. LEARY 3733 8.4%
Hugo J. DeASCENTIS 3624 8.2%
David C. HANOS, JR. 3505 7.9%
Thomas S. PHELAN 3170 7.1%
Lynn U. CEGLIE 3100 7.0%
Jacob CYKERT 2666 6.0%
Robert Thomas OLIVEIRA 2093 4.7%

Ryan Belmore is the owner and publisher of What's Up Newp. He took over the publication in 2012 and has grown it into a three-time Rhode Island Monthly Best Local News Blog (2018, 2019, 2020). He was named LION Publishers Member of the Year in 2020 and received the Dominique Award from the Arts & Cultural Society of Newport County the same year. He has been awarded grants for investigative and community journalism, and continues to coach and mentor new local news publications nationwide. Ryan...