PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Voters in Providence have overwhelmingly elected a political newcomer to take the seat of a city councilman who lost a recall election after he was indicted on embezzlement charges.
Democrat Nirva LaFortune took 94 percent of the vote in Wednesday’s special election to fill the Ward 3 seat. She defeated Republican David Lallier Jr. and independent Christopher Reynolds.
LaFortune will replace Democrat Kevin Jackson, who served on the Providence City Council for 23 years. Jackson was recalled by voters May 2 after being charged with embezzling $127,000 from a youth sports organization he founded. He has pleaded not guilty.
About 1,300 of the ward’s 10,000 registered voters cast votes.
The 34-year-old LaFortune was born in Haiti and raised in Providence. She works for Brown University.
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