Two House and Senate Democrats, whose districts straddle the Providence and North Providence line, are being challenged in Tuesday’s primary by two women — in one case by a retired nurse and former state senator, and in the other by a Providence school teacher.

In Senate Dist. 7, Sen. Frank A. Ciccone, 58, president and local field representative for the Laborers International, the Rhode Island Laborers’ District Council, is being opposed for the second time in two years by former Sen. Catherine Graziano, a 76-year-old retired nurse and educator who serves as a speaker for the Silver Haired Legislature and on the AARP National Policy Committee.

In House Dist. 55, Rep. Arthur J. Corvese, 52, of 234 Lexington Ave., North Providence, is being challenged in his quest for a sixth term by Paula DiNucci, 52, of 12 Plymouth Rd., North Providence, a teacher at the Esek Hopkins Middle School in Providence.

The winner in the Senate primary will face 46-year-old independent Gregory P. Wright, of 2 Lantagne Ave., North Providence.

Graziano, of 42 Rowley St., Providence, said she’s running this year because she doesn’t think anyone should run unopposed. She also thinks it’s a disgrace that Rhode Island has one of the lowest percentages in the country in terms of having women elected to the legislature.

Even before her retirement from Salve Regina University in Newport, where she was on the faculty for 44 years, including 20 years as nursing department chairman, Graziano says she felt it was time to challenge the “old boys’ network” that she felt kept things from happening.

Elected in 1992, she served 10 years in the Senate, the last two as chairman of the Senate Health, Education and Welfare Committee. She takes pride in helping to eliminate the blood testing requirement for marriage licenses and the abandoned baby bill that allows women to leave their baby with a local police or fire department.

She was also a strong advocate for emergency room coverage for all, and supports a ban on partial-birth abortion.

The main issue these days, she says, is “money, money, money.”

“We have a tremendous deficit that people a few years ago could not have imagined. I heard a prediction the other day that, depending on how the economy goes and how Rhode Island solves its problems, we could be looking at a $900-million shortfall next fiscal year. … We have to identity how much we have coming in, how much we are spending, and how we are going to cut costs so everybody bears a fair share.”

She said she would work to require that Assembly members pay at least 10 percent of the $17,000 annual premium for the family health care plan, and would give strong support for a more flexible use of health-care dollars to allow Rhode Island to direct more federal dollars into a program that would allow people to receive care at home rather than at a nursing home.

Prior to representing the union, Ciccone, of 15 Mercy St., Providence, was the executive assistant for administration at the state Supreme Court.

While his opponent has long been known as an abortion foe, Ciccone claims the same mantle and has the endorsement of the Rhode Island Right to Life organization.

He said, as vice chairman of the Government Oversight Committee, he would review all state tax structures and revise the tax laws to reduce the burden on taxpayers.

He said that he sees the state of the economy as the main issue right now.

“We need to collectively work together and stimulate the economy, and work cohesively on some alternate energy plans,” he said.

In the House Dist. 55 race, Corvese, an optometrist, is looking to continue a career in politics that began in 1986 when he ran for School Committee in North Providence and served 12 years. Since his election to the House, he was deputy speaker for two years and chairman of the Labor Committee for four years.

“The most important thing we do is take an oath to uphold the Constitutions of the United States and of Rhode Island, but I also see us as having an unofficial responsibility to be a facilitator for those who have problems with the bureaucracy of government.”

Corvese says he sees the economy and the budget as the top issues.

“The last two years, we’ve taken a proactive stance in reducing government spending and finding ways to consolidate. The next two years, we have to continue the effort so we don’t raise taxes.”

But the move can only be accomplished if Rhode Island acts to expand the job and tax base. “We have to take a serious look at Quonset Point and the Port of Providence and see what we can develop there. … We have to think outside the box. We can’t continue the way we have been doing business.”

DiNucci, a teacher in Providence for 12 years, said she is running because of the “deplorable condition of our state.”

Her chief concern is uncapped spending. “I want an accounting of all the money the state takes in. We have money in slush funds, money from the lottery, from gas taxes, from Twin River. We are taxed on anything we do, yet we are in deficit. Why?”

She says she agrees with Governor Carcieri that employers should be using an E-Verify system to screen new hires, if only to help to increase the nation’s security, but she disagrees with the governor’s recent attempt to force members of Local 94 to begin paying a portion of their health-care premiums before the workers had ratified a settlement.

“We need to abide by the contract in existence. And a contract is in existence until a new one is made,” she said. “This is a quality-of-life issue.”

DiNucci said she thinks there is a problem with the legislature, and the best thing to do is clean house.

Prior to teaching at Hopkins, DiNucci was chairman of the English Department at Nathan Bishop Middle School for three years. Before that, she was a secretary at Rhode Island College.

“All I’m looking for is honest government, so people know what’s going on,” she said.

rdujardi@projo.com