Between Governor Almond and his successor , Gov. Donald Carcieri , Republicans held the Rhode Island governorship for the longest period of time ( 16 years ) since the 19th century . Gov. Almond prioritized health care , making significant expansions to the public children 's health care program Rite Care and making Rhode Island among the states with the highest percentage of people having health insurance . Almond was also instrumental in the creation of the Community College of Rhode Island 's Newport campus funded by a bond referendum passed with the Governor 's support in 2000 , and made major investments to improve and modernize the University of Rhode Island , his alma mater . When Almond was term-limited in 2002 , conservative businessman Donald Carcieri defeated party-endorsed Jim Bennett in the Republican primary and then defeated 3rd-time Democratic nominee Myrth York to become Almond 's successor , and was thrust into the national spotlight early in his term by The Station nightclub fire of February 2003 . Carcieri 's governorship was characterized by conflicts with the General Assembly and organized labor , as Carcieri often attacked the state government 's expansive welfare programs and history of corruption but could do little to enact changes due to the Democrat-controlled Assembly 's ability to override his vetoes . The Assembly also overrode Carcieri 's vetoes of bills to legalize medical marijuana and make progress on LGBT civil rights issues . The latter position was particularly controversial with Rhode Islanders ; the year of Carcieri 's first election , 2002 , was also the year that Providence elected the first openly homosexual mayor of a U.S. state capital , David Cicilline , in a landslide election , and Carcieri won reelection in 2006 against Lt. Gov. Charles J. Fogarty by only 2 percentage points
The Station nightclub fire
The Station nightclub fire
Politics of Rhode Island