Craven Holds on to House Dist. 32 Seat

Rep. Robert E. Craven Sr. has held on to his seat in the hotly-contested Rhode Island House race in North Kingstowns’ District 32.

Craven, a Democrat, defeated Republican Sharon L. Gamba by a margin of 51.8 to 47.8 percent, garnering 224 more votes in a contest that brought out 5650 voters.

Twenty voters wrote in a candidate.

Things heated up in the final days of the race when Gamba announced on Nov. 1 that she would be filing a libel suit against Craven for a mailer he sent out on Halloween that accused Gamba and her husband, who own a Cranston auto body business, of insurance fraud.

Craven, first elected in 2012, is chairman of the House Committee on Municipal Government and sits on the house Judiciary and Small Business Committees.

Craven held three of the five precincts in District 32: Wickford Middle School, Hamilton Elementary School and Cold Spring Community Center.

At North Kingstown High School, Gamba earned 384 votes -- 39 more than Craven -- and at Slocum Grange Hall, Gamba walked away with 411 votes to Craven’s 360.