Dominick J. Ruggerio
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Dominick J. Ruggerio (born December 19, 1948) is a Democratic member of the
Rhode Island Senate The Rhode Island Senate is the upper house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the lower house being the Rhode Island House of Representatives. It is composed of 38 Senators, each of wh ...
, 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.


Background

Dominick Rugerio graduated from
La Salle Academy } La Salle Academy is an American private, Catholic all-boys' high school in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York. The school is run by the Eastern North American District of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. ...
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.


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


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.


Arrests and legal issues

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. Ruggerio was arrested in September 1990 for
shoplifting Shoplifting is the theft of goods from an open retail establishment, typically by concealing a store item on one's person, in pockets, under clothes or in a bag, and leaving the store without paying. With clothing, shoplifters may put on items ...
condoms from a CVS drug store, in
Cranston, Rhode Island Cranston, once known as Pawtuxet, is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island. The official population of the city in the 2020 United States Census was 82,934, making it the second largest in the state. The center of population of Rhode Island ...
. He was not prosecuted. In 2012, Ruggerio was arrested in
Barrington, Rhode Island Barrington is a suburban, residential town in Bristol County, Rhode Island located approximately southeast of Providence. It was founded by Congregationalist separatists from Swansea, Massachusetts and incorporated in 1717. Barrington was ced ...
and charged with
DUI Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...
and refusal to submit to a
breathalyzer A breathalyzer or breathalyser (a portmanteau of ''breath'' and ''analyzer/analyser'') is a device for estimating blood alcohol content (BAC), or to detect viruses or diseases from a breath sample. The name is a genericized trademark of the Br ...
. He later pleaded guilty to refusing the test, but the DUI charge was dismissed.


References


External links


Rhode Island Senate - Senator Dominick J. Ruggerio
official Rhode Island Senate website
Project Vote Smart - Senator Dominick J. Ruggerio
profile *''Follow the Money'' - Dominick J. Ruggerio
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campaign contributions
TransparencyRI.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruggerio, Dominick J. 1948 births 21st-century American politicians Living people La Salle Academy alumni Bryant University alumni Providence College alumni American people of Italian descent Democratic Party members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives Politicians from Providence, Rhode Island Presidents of the Rhode Island Senate Democratic Party Rhode Island state senators