Incumbent Senators James C. Sheehan and J. Michael Lenihan –– veteran lawmakers and teachers –– easily beat their Democratic challengers in last night’s primary, according to unofficial numbers from the state Board of Elections.

Their opponents –– a firefighter and a town official –– campaigned on a promise of new ideas and change. No lawmaker should run unchallenged, they said.

Voters thought otherwise.

In District 35, Lenihan, chairman of the legislature’s Government Oversight Committee, beat North Kingstown Town Councilman Steven A. Campo. Lenihan, a retired high school English teacher, is seeking a 10th term. He will face Republican John A. Pagliarini Jr. in a district that covers East Greenwich, Warwick and North Kingstown.

“It was a gentlemanly fight,” said Sanford H. Tully, chairman of the North Kingstown Democratic Town Committee. The party backed endorsed incumbent Lenihan, even though Campo is a local councilman. “Everybody was polite and cordial. There were no dogfights.”

In District 36, Sheehan, a high school teacher in Warwick, beat Providence firefighter Philip F. Fiore. Sheehan, who is seeking a fifth term, faces Republican William J. Connelly in November’s election. The district includes Narragansett and North Kingstown.

“It was a strong win, by almost a 4-1 ratio,” said Sheehan, who campaigned in Narragansett last night. Sheehan said that although a small number of voters sought a change, the majority “looked at my record and saw that I had been a proponent for change.”

It was a good night for incumbents.

In House District 34 in Narragansett, Rep. David A. Caprio, a lawyer, trounced Ryan P. Drugan, a 21-year-old University of Rhode Island senior and a political science major.

Drugan, who failed to win early endorsements, argued that new ideas are lacking on the state and national levels.

Caprio, endorsed by the Sierra Club and the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers, said that lawmakers must improve the state’s fiscal health and give locals a bigger voice in state government.

Because there is no Republican or independent in the race, Caprio won his seat last night.

“It was a good victory,” said Caprio. “We put a real effort into the primary. We had 50 volunteers.”

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed stumped for the Democrat in the late afternoon, outside the town’s community center.

“I plan to keep doing what I’ve been doing. It’s going to be another challenging year,” Caprio said.

In the more complicated House District 39 race, former state Rep. Rod Driver beat three other Democrats:

Driver defeated Paul E. Picerne, the owner of an auto salvage yard, Lawrence “Larry” M. Valencia, a medical writer and member of the Richmond Charter Commission, and Stephen D. Antoni, a real estate broker and a former Richmond Town Councilman

District 39 covers Richmond and parts of Exeter and Charlestown.

Driver, 78, campaigned on many of the same issues that got him elected and reelected in the 1990s. Among his proposals: stronger educational standards and government reform to eliminate “waste, fraud and abuse.”

Driver, who owns a hybrid car and built a solar-heated house in Richmond, also wants the state to invest in alternative and cleaner energies.

On the GOP side in House District 39, lawyer David Hathaway beat Joseph R. Arsenault, a Providence firefighter and Richmond’s emergency management director.

“We’re thrilled, and are looking forward to moving on,” said Hathaway.

Hathaway, 48, has a private law practice with offices in Warwick and on their 145-acre farm in Exeter. His wife homeschools their 12 children, milks their two cows and cards wool from their 20 sheep.

Hathaway said he spent time with Arsenault and his family yesterday. “I was running against a top-notch guy. We need to get more good citizens like him involved.”

Voter turnout was light, election officials said yesterday. By 1 p.m., some polling places reported fewer than 175 voters. Some rural spots recorded fewer than 50 voters.

A mid-afternoon rain drove some voters away, Sheehan said. Voting picked up later, but with few names on the ballots, “voting was light,” he said.

pdavis@projo.com