Deborah L. "Deb" Ruggiero (born April 2, 1958) is an American radio personality and politician from Jamestown, Rhode Island. A Democrat, she served in the

Rhode Island House of Representatives The Rhode Island House of Representatives is the lower house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the upper house being the Rhode Island Senate. It is ...

, representing the 74th district, which contains all of Jamestown and part of Middletown. Ruggiero was first elected in November 2008 and took office on January 6, 2009.

Early life and education

Born in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, Ruggiero went to high school in Lincoln, Rhode Island before attending

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

, graduating ''magna cum laude'' with a double major in English and communications.

Career

In 2008, Ruggiero challenged 28-year incumbent Bruce J. Long for the 74th district seat. Long, a Republican, was the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives and was seeking his fifteenth term. In the election held on November 4, 2008, Ruggiero defeated Long by 54% to 46%, carrying each of the district's six precincts. She was re-elected in 2010, winning 53% in a three-way race. Her Republican and Independent opponents took 31% and 16% of the vote respectively. She has spent her career in the media, working first for CBS radio in Boston, then for FOX TV and

WPRI-TV WPRI-TV (channel 12) is a television station in Providence, Rhode Island, United States, affiliated with CBS and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which provides certain services to dual Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox/The CW, CW a ...

for eight years. Since 2000, she has served as director of community and business development at Citadel Radio, the owners of WPRO and

WPRO-FM WPRO-FM (92.3 MHz "92 PRO-FM") is a commercial contemporary hit radio American radio station in Providence, Rhode Island, United States, owned by Cumulus Media. The station's studios and offices are located in the Brine Broadcasting Center ...

. Since 1992, she has also taught a class in broadcast advertising at

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Roman Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, it offers 47 undergraduate Academic ...

. A supporter of the Hillary Clinton 2008 presidential campaign, Ruggiero attended the

2008 Democratic National Convention The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial United States presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform an ...

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

as an alternate elector. In April 2022, Ruggiero declared her candidacy for

lieutenant governor of Rhode Island The current lieutenant governor of Rhode Island is Sabina Matos, who was sworn in on April 14, 2021, after Daniel McKee succeeded to the office of governor. The first lieutenant governor was George Brown. In Rhode Island, the lieutenant gov ...

Personal life

Ruggiero is a lesbian; her partner of over 22 years, Joyce Ioanes, died of cancer in 2007.

References

External links

Campaign websiteLegislative homepage
1958 births 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American LGBTQ people American people of Italian descent Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences alumni American lesbian politicians LGBTQ state legislators in Rhode Island Living people Democratic Party members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives People from Newport County, Rhode Island Women state legislators in Rhode Island 21st-century members of the Rhode Island General Assembly {{Rhode-Island-politician-stub