Dominick J. Ruggerio

Dominick J. Ruggerio (born December 19, 1948) is a Democratic member of the Rhode Island Senate, representing the 4th District since 1985. He is currently President of the Rhode Island Senate. A member of the Senate since 1985, he was previously elected Majority Leader on November 10, 2010, having won election to his 14th term in the Senate on November 2, 2010. Ruggerio succeeded M. Teresa Paiva-Weed as Senate president after the latter resigned to take a private sector job.

Dominick Ruggerio
3rd President of the Rhode Island Senate
Assumed office
March 24, 2017
Preceded byM. Teresa Paiva-Weed
Majority Leader of the Rhode Island Senate
In office
January 6, 2009 – March 23, 2017
Preceded byDaniel P. Connors
Succeeded byMichael McCaffrey
Member of the Rhode Island Senate
from the 4th district
Assumed office
January 3, 2005
Preceded byMaryellen Goodwin
In office
January 3, 1985 – January 3, 2003
Preceded byRocco Quattrocchi
Succeeded byMaryellen Goodwin
Member of the Rhode Island Senate
from the 6th district
In office
January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2005
Preceded byV. Susan Sosnowski
Succeeded byHarold Metts
Member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives
from the 6th district
In office
January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1985
Preceded byAlbert J. Lepore
Succeeded byThomas J. Rossi
Personal details
Born (1948-12-19) December 19, 1948
Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Children2
EducationBryant University
Providence College (BS)

Background

Dominick Rugerio graduated from La Salle Academy in 1966. Ruggerio then attended Bryant College and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in 1974 from Providence College. He is a retired Administrator for the New England Laborers Labor Management Coop Trust. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Wanskuck Library, the Sons of Italy, Loggia Vittoria, and the DaVinci Center Development Committee.[1]

Rhode Island Senate

As Senate President, Senator Ruggerio serves as an ex officio member of all standing Senate committees.

Senator Ruggerio served as Majority Whip from 2003 through 2010. He has previously served as a member and as Vice Chairman of the Senate Labor Committee, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Labor and Transportation, and as a member of the Senate Finance Committee, the Senate Rules Committee, the Senate Labor Committee, and the Joint Committee on Accounts and Claims. He also previously served as Deputy Majority Leader.

Senator Ruggerio is the “Dean” of the Rhode Island General Assembly, meaning he has served longer than any other member of the RI Senate or House of Representatives.

Prior to his tenure in the Senate, Senator Ruggerio was a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives from 1981 through 1984, and was a member of the House Labor Committee and House Corporations Committee.

He served as a Policy Aide for the Office of the Lieutenant Governor from 1977 through 1981.

In January 2013, Senator Ruggerio was one of five senators to file legislation seeking a voter referendum to define marriage as being between solely a man and a woman in the Rhode Island Constitution.[1][2]

Ruggerio was briefly redistricted to Senate District 6 in 2002, before being redistricted back in 2004.[3]

Personal life

Senate President Ruggerio resides in North Providence and represents District 4, which includes portions of North Providence and Providence. He is the father of two children, Charles and Amanda.

In November 1989, Ruggerio was charged for maliciously damaging the car of a Lincoln businessman, Nandy M. Sarda, in September of the same year. In February 1990, he was ordered to pay restitution and to stay away from Sarda.[4]

Ruggerio was arrested in September 1990 for shoplifting condoms from a CVS drug store, in Cranston, Rhode Island. He was not prosecuted.[5][6]

In 2012, Ruggerio was arrested in Barrington, Rhode Island and charged with DUI and refusal to submit to a breathalyzer.[7] He later pleaded guilty to refusing the test, but the DUI charge was dismissed.[8]

References
  1. "Biography". Rhode Island Senate. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  2. Frank Ciccone; Leonidas Raptakis; Marc Cote; David Bates; Dominick J. Ruggerio (January 22, 2013). "TO APPROVE AND PUBLISH AND SUBMIT TO THE ELECTORS A PROPOSITION OF AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE (MARRIAGE)" (PDF).
  3. "Elections & Voting- Board of Elections". elections.ri.gov. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  4. "Ruggerio ordered to pay restitution in car damage". The Providence Journal. Providence. 3 February 1990. p. A-19.
  5. "Rhode Island Century: Dubious Achievements". The Providence Journal. Archived from the original on 2011-06-28. Retrieved 2011-08-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. "State senator accused of shoplifting condoms off the hook". UPI.
  7. White, Tim. "No. 2 senator Ruggerio arrested for DUI". WPRI Eyewitness news. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  8. McGee, Sandy (April 6, 2012). "Former Senator Represented Majority Leader in DUI Case". Patch.com.
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