Sinapi Bests Furtado for Ward 8 Council Seat with 88-Vote Lead

WARWICK, RI — Anthony Sinapi won by a slim margin Wednesday night in a tight Democratic primary race to represent Ward 8 on the Warwick City Council, with an 88-vote lead over Bethany Furtado, the former School Committee chairwoman.

Sinapi won 54.8 percent of the vote with 503 votes, besting Furtado, who collected 45.2 percent of the vote with 415 votes. With the win, Sinapi essentially secures the seat, as there are no other candidates running for the post previously held by Joseph Gallucci.

Sinapi said he was happy with the in-person vote tallies, but withheld any announcement pending the count of absentee and provisional ballots.

“I’m just honored and humbled for all the support,” Sinapi said Wednesday night, shortly after all four precincts in Ward 8 had reported in.

Sinapi expressed disappointment in the turnout in general, noting that on Tuesday alone he had canvassed about 300 homes, many of them with more than one voter. Many people who interacted with him during the campaign still didn’t get out to vote, he observed.