NEWPORT — Local voters opted for a change Tuesday when they elected environmental activist Lauren Carson of Newport to the state House of Representatives, ousting threeterm incumbent Rep. Peter F. Martin, D-Newport.
In her first run for elective office, Carson won four of the five voting precincts in House District 75. The final tally in Tuesday’s local primary had Carson winning 850-726. Carson will not face an opponent in the general election in November.
Carson, 60, was surrounded by well-wishers for a victory party at her Willow Street apartment, three doors down from Martin’s home. It capped a busy day that began for her at 7:30 a.m. Carson said she visited each of the five polling places in the district three times during the day. It was typical of her campaign, in which she said she made an effort to personally visit every Democrat or unaffiliated voter who had voted in at least one of the last four Democratic primaries. “That was my world,” Carson said of the list of primary voters. “I think I tapped into voter disenfranchisement. Voters were frustrated and felt discouraged.”
September 10th, 2014. The Newport Daily News.