Dominick Ruggerio, RI Senate president who served for decades, dies at 76.
PROVIDENCE – Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio died early on the morning of April 21 after a battle with cancer, according to a statement issued by his office. He was 76.
"It is with deepest sorrow that we announce the passing of Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio earlier this morning," the statement said.
"We are so grateful for the love and support of his friends and colleagues. Throughout his illness, Donny fought valiantly, just as he always had for his constituents and the residents of Rhode Island."
Considered the dean of the Rhode Island Senate, Ruggerio was the chamber's most senior member. He served in the General Assembly for nearly 44 years, and was re-elected for more than twenty consecutive terms.
An old-school Democrat who represented parts of North Providence and the North End of Providence, Ruggerio devoted his career to advancing trade unions' agendas and was instrumental in legalizing sports betting in Rhode Island.
Ruggerio grew up in the Fruit Hill neighborhood of North Providence.
His father, Mario "Charlie" Ruggerio, ran The Chalet, an Italian restaurant on Mineral Spring Avenue that allegedly had ties to the Patriarca crime family and served as a hangout for mob figures.
After graduating from La Salle Academy and Providence College, Ruggerio spent five years working as a policy aide to Lt. Gov. Thomas DiLugio, who died in December.
He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1980, when he was 32 years old.
Though relatively young, Ruggerio had powerful political connections: His father-in-law, Rocco A. Quattrocchi, served as Senate Majority Leader and Democratic state chairman.
When Quattrochi stepped down in 1984, Ruggerio took his place, moving from the House to the Senate.
'Being my son-in-law, I figured, why not give it to him? Who else was I going to give it to?" Quattrocchi told The Providence Journal years later, after Ruggerio and his former wife, Cynthia, filed for divorce.
As a freshman lawmaker, Ruggerio was hired as the Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority's director of marketing and planning – a move that raised eyebrows because he lacked experience in mass transit.
He left that job to take over The Chalet after his father died, but sold the restaurant in 1985 and began a decades-long career with the powerful Laborers' International Union of North America, which represents construction workers.
'Donny,' as he was known to colleagues in the Statehouse, started out as a field representative for the Rhode Island Laborers' District Council.
By 2005, he'd become an administrator for the New England Laborers' Labor-Management Cooperation Trust, a LIUNA affiliate that pursues construction contracts for members.
Ruggerio retired in 2017, when he was elected Senate president, but continued to champion projects and policies that would create jobs for union members. In recent years, that resulted in the passage of a number of climate initiatives.
In addition to his pro-labor stance, Ruggerio was also known for his strong support for expanding legalized gambling.
In the 1990s, he proposed allowing Narragansett Indian Tribe to build a casino in Providence. One of his first moves as a freshman lawmaker was to request a study commission on state-run sports betting.
Rhode Island legalized online sports betting in 2019, in large part due to Ruggerio's efforts. He also successfully pushed the legislature to authorize remote iGaming in 2023.
In 1992, Providence Journal columnist M. Charles Bakst described Ruggerio as a 'low-profile senator' who rarely gave floor speeches.
But in the 2000s, he began climbing the rungs of Senate leadership. He was elected Senate Majority Leader in 2011, and ascended to the presidency in 2017.
Ruggerio, who re-read Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War' at least 15 times, took a pragmatic approach to politics – which meant occasionally putting his own socially conservative views aside as the chamber shifted left.
In 2019, he allowed legislation that codified Roe v. Wade in state law to move forward, even though he personally opposed abortion and voted against the bill.
And despite earning an 'A' rating from the National Rifle Association throughout his career, he shepherded a number of gun control bills through the legislature in recent years.
"I'd be horrified if something ever happened to my grandchildren because of something like that and I stood by and did nothing,' he told The Journal in 2020.
Ruggerio revealed his cancer diagnosis last April, after his repeated absences from the Senate and use of a cane prompted questions about his health.
Although he was unable to preside over the Senate for most of the legislative session, he ran for re-election last fall, relying on other Democratic politicians to campaign on his behalf.
Ruggerio handily defeated three-time challenger Lenny Cioe in the September primary. But he skipped his own victory party, saying that he was recuperating after complications from shingles required him to undergo surgery.
In December, he faced an attempted coup led by his former second-in-command, Sen. Ryan Pearson, who questioned whether Ruggerio could still govern effectively.
But the majority of senators voted to keep Ruggerio in the top role – which, among other things, underscored the respect he'd earned.
'I don't know if I'll ever be gone,'' Ruggerio told The Providence Journal when he revealed his cancer diagnosis in April 2024, making clear that he had no plans to step down.
"I tell people, I got nowhere to go, nothing to do and all day to do it,' he said. 'I have no hobbies. I enjoy what I'm doing. I absolutely love representing the people that I represent in the 4th Senatorial District."
This story was updated to add a video and with new information.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI Senate President Dominick Ruggerio dies at 76
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