After weeks of campaigning, the 2026 general election in Warren took place Tuesday, Nov. 3, at four polling places around town where voters were tasked with choosing who will serve them over either the next two or four years, including three new members of the town council.

Five candidates — Daniel Barlow, James Core, Scott Lial, Bert Rodrigues and Rebecca Schmaeling — were in the running for the council seats vacated by term-limited members Keri Cronin, Joseph DePasquale and John Hanley.

And as it turned it out, it was clean sweep of the seats by the three Democrats in the race led by Core, who earned the most votes on the evenings, 2,281. Schmaeling was second with 2,028 and Barlow third with 2,021.

Independents Lial and Rodrigues wound up ranked fourth and fifth with 1,752 and 1,255 votes.

On being the top vote-getter, Core said, ""I think this town really respects hard work. That's in Warren's DNA. And I went out, and I met people. I talked to people, and I knocked on doors. And I take that as a sign, as a symbol of trust, being placed in me. And I'm going to work collaboratively with everybody else on the council. And everyone else in town that wants more collaboratively, to help tune Warren up, so it can be the best version of itself."

About her finish and the Dem sweep, Schmaeling said, ""I'm a perfectionist, so I'm always like, there's more doors you can knock, more people you can meet, but it was really nice to meet all these people and more. And we've been getting out a lot. It's been a very busy month. And I'm just excited that people put their confidence in us. I think (the sweep) says that Warren's ready for something a little bit different."

Besides being Democrats, the new town councilors-elect are each relatively recent transplants to Warren and were also all first-time candidates for any public office.

"For the most part, it shows that town, I think, is ready for some new ideas and new change," Barlow said of the shared traits among the incoming freshmen electeds. "I think it says something that the three candidates are new to Warren, young, and energetic with some new ideas. I think everybody is concerned about our financial challenges, but I think people want some new creative ideas and some new energy. I think that's what that says, more so than the Dems winning. But that new ideas and new people."

District 67 race

At the state level, local voters selected a new General Assembly House member from District 67 (Warren, Bristol) between the aforementioned DePasquale and Nicole Jellinek.

The seat became available when incumbent Jason Knight, Jellinek's husband, opted to run for the Democratic Party nomination to become the state's next attorney general, which proved an unsuccessful effort.

In addition, all of the state officers were on the ballot, led by the three-way race to become Rhode Island's next governor, which Helena Foulkes won handily with 57.45% of the electorate.

Federal seats were also up for a vote, Democratic incumbents Jack Reed and Gabe Amo each easily won re-election to the United States Senate and House, respectively.

Referenda questions

There were also five state-wide referenda items on the ballot, three of which appear headed for approval:

Question 1: HIGHER EDUCATION FACILITIES - $275,000,000; 59.86%-40.14%, APPROVE

Question 2: HOUSING AND HOMEOWNERSHIP - $120,000,000; 61.16%-38.84%; APPROVE

Question 3: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - $100,000,000; 52.44%-47.56%; REJECT

Question 4: CULTURAL ECONOMY - $50,000,000; 50.77%-49.23%; REJECT

Question 5: GREEN ECONOMY BONDS - $55,000,000; 66.96%-33.04%; APPROVE

Results links

See all the 2026 elections results from Warren its page on the secretary of state website as well as those statewide.