CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) - The Latest on election results in Rhode Island (all times local):
5:10 p.m.
Republican candidate Steven Frias says he’s considering all legal options as he awaits the outcome of his bid to unseat Democratic state House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello.
Frias said Wednesday he wants to be sure there was no manipulation or intimidation of absentee voters.
The race between the two attorneys was too close to call before the state Board of Elections counts mail-in ballots. The results are expected Thursday.
Mattiello was losing in votes counted at Tuesday polling sites, but the Democrat has already claimed victory based on his projections for hundreds of still-uncounted absentee ballots.
Frias said it makes no sense for Mattiello to declare victory if he’s trailing the race.
Mattiello campaign spokeswoman Patti Doyle says the projections are based on the Democrat’s strong get-out-the-vote operation.
3:30 p.m.
A Rhode Island Democratic lawmaker in a tight race to keep his seat in the General Assembly says his chances were hurt by high turnout for Republican President-elect Donald Trump.
Rep. Michael Marcello, a Scituate Democrat first elected in 2008, was losing to GOP candidate Robert Quattrocchi after votes were counted at Tuesday polling sites.
Neither candidate has declared victory because they are waiting for uncounted absentee ballots. Results of the counts are expected Thursday.
Statewide voters chose Democrat Hillary Clinton for president but Trump easily won in Marcello’s district in rural western Rhode Island.
Marcello, an ethics reform advocate, has touted his record of bucking Democratic leadership. He once sought to be House speaker.
Quattrocchi says Marcello is too liberal for the conservative Scituate and Cranston neighborhoods he represents.
2:40 p.m.
Some opponents of President-elect Donald Trump are planning an evening protest outside the Rhode Island State House.
Organizers of the United Against Trump rally said they expect at least 300 people at the 7 p.m. Wednesday event in Providence.
Rhode Island voters on Tuesday chose Democrat Hillary Clinton over the Republican businessman. Clinton won overwhelmingly in Providence and other urban areas, but Trump carried some rural and suburban parts of the state.
The Democrat-leaning state has picked Republicans for president only four times since 1928, most recently with Ronald Reagan in 1984.
1:30 p.m.
Proponents of a new Rhode Island casino are waiting for the results of mail-in ballots from the town of Tiverton before declaring victory.
Statewide voters on Tuesday approved Question 1 for a casino in Tiverton near the Massachusetts border. But the casino proposal can’t win unless a companion question is approved by Tiverton’s town voters.
Tiverton Town Question 8 was leading after Tuesday poll votes were counted but elections officials haven’t yet counted absentee ballots.
Casino campaign spokeswoman Patti Doyle says she’s optimistic the lead will hold after absentee votes are certified Thursday.
The measures would allow casino operator Twin River to transfer its license from the aging Newport Grand to the Tiverton casino. Proponents spent about $3 million on the campaign, but some Tiverton residents worried about gambling addiction.
11:30 a.m.
The seat held by Rhode Island Democratic House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello and other tight state legislative races won’t be called for at least another day.
The state Board of Elections said Wednesday it will count absentee ballots on Thursday.
Mattiello has declared victory in the race, but Republican attorney Steven Frias (FRY’-ahs) was leading by a thin margin after ballots cast at polling places in the suburban Cranston district were counted. Mattiello expressed confidence he would win once the absentee ballots were counted.
Miguel Nunez of the Board of Elections says the earliest absentee counts will be certified is late Thursday afternoon.
1:46 a.m.
The race for the Rhode Island House seat held by Democratic Speaker Nicholas Mattiello is too close to call after a strong challenge by Republican attorney Steve Frias.
Frias, a national GOP committeeman for Rhode Island, was leading by a thin margin late Tuesday in the suburban Cranston district after ballots cast at polling places were counted. Mattiello expressed confidence he would win once absentee ballots were counted.
The election has been closely watched around the state because toppling Mattiello would create a power vacuum in the state’s Democratic-dominated House.
Rhode Island voters on Tuesday chose Democrat Hillary Clinton for president and approved all seven statewide ballot questions, including one that puts state lawmakers under the oversight of an ethics commission and another to build a new casino.
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