NEWPORT — The third time wasn’t the charm for David R. Carlin III. He was defeated convincingly by former state Sen. J. Clement “Bud” Cicilline in yesterday’s Democratic primary.

Cicilline received 63 percent of the votes, or 536 ballots cast for him, to Carlin’s 37 percent, or 310 votes. Board of Canvassers Clerk Richard E. O’Neill said 848 ballots were cast.

Both vied to be their political party’s candidate for next month’s election that will fill the open District 75 seat, which covers all of Newport except a small section in a northeast area of the city. Cicilline will face Republican newcomer Steven J. Coaty, 47, a lawyer with a Middletown practice, and independent James Stanek, another newcomer, in the general election on Dec. 18.

The seat was left vacant by the September death of Rep. Paul W. Crowley. Crowley, whose 27-year tenure in the House was the longest of any Democrat, defeated Carlin in the last two Democratic primaries.

Although he could not be reached for comment last night, Cicilline, 67, told The Journal last month, “I’ve had a lifelong interest in government.”

While spending his career as a psychologist and social services administrator helping people one-on-one, Cicilline said, “the legislature casts an even wider net and offers the opportunity to help a lot more people.”

Cicilline, president and chief executive of the Newport County Mental Health Center, served in the Senate for a decade, until 2003, when he was defeated by another longtime Newport legislator, M. Teresa Paiva Weed, in a primary match-up forced by redistricting. Before that, Cicilline, chairman of the Democratic City Committee, served on the School Committee for 12 years.

Carlin, 37, a lobbyist for the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce and the son of School Committee member and former state Senate Majority leader David R. Carlin Jr., lost to Crowley in the last two Democratic primaries for the District 75 seat.

Most recently, the state Board of Elections ordered Carlin to pay $3,630 in fines for filing late campaign finance reports. His father wrote in a Letter to the Editor that the board is fining his son four times the amount it is legally entitled to fine him. The board, on at least two occasions, denied his request to waive part of the accumulated fines. Carlin has appealed to the state Superior Court and the matter has yet to be decided.

A call to his home, which doubled as his headquarters, was not answered last night. His campaign manager, Tom Magill, who had already left, said he didn’t know why no one picked up the telephone.

apina@projo.com