Edward O’Neill, the independent who defeated Democrat Joseph A. Montalbano, the Senate president, greets a voter outside the Marieville School, in North Providence, yesterday.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

PROVIDENCE –– If voters were angry yesterday, it appears they took much of their anger out on the already small band of Republicans in the General Assembly.

While Joseph A. Montalbano, the Democratic president of the Senate, was toppled, it was the GOP that took a particularly heavy beating in the state’s legislative races. Republicans appear to have lost 8 of their 18 seats in the General Assembly. House Speaker William J. Murphy, the chamber’s top Democrat, blamed the losses on Republicans’ inability “to get the job done for the people of Rhode Island.” He said the tiny minority spent all its time “making noise.”

Aiming his comments at Rep. Joseph Trillo, the Warwick Republican who starred in a TV ad urging the election of more Republicans, Murphy said: “Those Republican candidates who paid tuition money to attend the Joseph Trillo campaign school should be on his doorstep tomorrow asking for a refund … If they don’t get it within 24 hours, they should file a complaint with the attorney general’s office.”

Democrats overall were on their way to winning at least 8 of the 13 House seats now held by Republicans, including that of Rep. Bruce Long, of Middletown, the longest-serving member of the House, and House Minority Whip Nicholas Gorham, of Coventry, according to unofficial results from the state Board of Elections.

Aside from Montalbano’s loss, Rhode Island voters yesterday did little to change the dominance of the Democrats in the legislature. Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Paiva Weed, and others appeared to survive aggressive challenges despite staggering levels of voter discontent.

As recently as late September, a Rhode Island College poll found that nearly three in four Rhode Islanders believed the state was going in the wrong direction. Governor Carcieri and the state GOP tried to play to this sentiment.

A late-October radio spot paid for by Carcieri’s campaign fund said: "The Democrats have dominated the Rhode Island General Assembly for over 70 years. ... Powerful special-interest groups keep them in office ... call the shots ... protect the status quo ... and the taxpayers end up paying the bills. ... You can no longer afford to vote Democrats back into office…vote for Republican candidates who will get Rhode Island back on track.”

But voters did not, apparently, hold the Democrats who run the state legislature singularly responsible for the state of the state.

Meanwhile, over in the Senate, Montalbano’s second-in-command, Paiva Weed, was also embroiled in a high-profile race against Republican Donna Perry, the former executive director of the state Republican Party and sister of conservative talk show host John DePetro.

Paiva Weed beat her challenger 63.8 percent to 36.2 percent, according to unofficial tallies from the state Board of Elections. The District 13 battle, which included parts of Newport and Jamestown, had turned increasingly negative in recent days.

One mailer distributed by the state Republican Party featured a picture of Paiva Weed in a black straitjacket, chained at the arms and ankles, a muzzle covering her mouth.

“Newport can’t afford a muzzled state senator,” read the advertisement, referring to the majority leader’s regular recusal in votes related to the Aquidneck Island gambling facility, Newport Grand; her law firm represents the slot parlor.

AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer George Nee blasted the Republican mailers as “despicable” and “crossing the line.”

“They’re pathetic,” Nee said of the state GOP. “They’re an embarrassment to what was a respected and viable Republican Party. The trash that they’re putting out is just over the top.”

State GOP Chairman Giovanni Cicione yesterday defended the mailers as “truthful.”

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it,” he said.

But based on yesterday’s election results, the attack strategy –– which was used in other races as well –– appears to have failed.

The only other Democratic incumbent who may be in trouble is Sen. Charles Levesque, D-Portsmouth, who led by 61 votes –– 43.9 percent to 43.4 percent –– according to the Board of Elections, with all precincts reporting.

While mail ballots had yet to be counted,others headed to defeat in the House included Representatives William McManus, R-Lincoln, and freshman Rep. Steven J. Coaty, R-Newport, who was elected in mid-term to fill the vacancy left by the death of Paul Crowley. Democrats also appear to have won all four of the open seats created by the departures of four other House Republicans.

The only bright spot for the GOP was the apparent defeat of incumbent Democrat Raymond C. Church, of North Smithfield, by Republican Brian C. Newberry, a lawyer from North Smithfield.

Other lost seats include the House District 41 seat vacated by Republican Carol Mumford, which was won yesterday by Democrat Michael Marcello. Additionally, Scott J. Guthrie won Victor Moffitt’s open District 28 sea, and Tiverton Democratic Town Councilman John G. Edwards won the seat currently held by Republican Joseph Amaral, who did not seek reelection.

Additionally, 11-term Republican incumbent June Gibbs, 86 –– the Assembly’s oldest member, well-loved on both sides of the Senate aisle –– appears to have lost to Democratic challenger and Middletown Town Council member Louis DiPalma, 54.1 percent to 45.9 percent with 13 of 14 precincts reporting.

Even Nee, of the AFL-CIO, which traditionally backs Democratic candidates, said the dominance of one party “is terrible for the state.”

“I think a viable competitive two-party system is good for everybody. It makes people have to work hard and it makes people really have to consult with their constituents; nobody gets complacent,” he said.

kgregg@projo.com