Richard Fascia wasn’t looking to set any records when he decided last year to run as a Republic for State Representative in District 42.

A former Providence police officer who said his parents raised him with a strong sense of right and wrong, Fascia said he was motivated by a desire to serve his community.  He also knew that it was hard to field GOP candidates for the ballot and he didn’t like the thought of an unchallenged seat.

“I think people deserve a choice,” he said, of the decision that landed him on the ballot facing Democrat Kelsey K. Coletta in a town where only about 16-percent of the voters are registered as Republicans.

And on election night, Fascia did make history.  He won the District 42 (Johnston, Cranston) seat by about 676 votes, making him the first Republican to represent the district in more than 80 years.

Because of redistricting over the decades, it’s hard to say definitely, but according to records compiled by the House Minority Office, the last Republican to hold the District 42 seat was Raymond S. Eastwood.  A World War I veteran, Eastwood held the seat from 1939 to 1940.

“I was the most surprised son of a gun on election night,” Fascia, 68, recalls with a smile. “I am so honored and humbled to represent the voters – this is a job I will ‘interview’ for every single day I am in office.”

So, how did he do it?

Having grown up in the Eagle Square section of Providence in a family that was very active in the Democratic party, Fascia said he went old school.  He knocked on doors, kissed babies,  shook every hand , and “went to the opening of an envelope.”

Fascia said he also worked hard to help voters get to know him – including his love of serving as police officer for 20 years, his time on the Johnston’s Zoning Board, and his commitment to public service.

On his campaign website, he listed one of his proudest accomplishments as helping to lead opposition 55-panel solar farm in the Windsor section of town -- a project that he said was completely “out of place” for its proposed location.

Fascia, who retired from the Providence police with the rank of sergeant, is currently the Human Resource Manage for USENTRA Security in Warwick.  After leaving the police, he held a number of jobs including working for the Providence Housing Authority as a fraud investigator, and later for Crossroads Rhode Island where, according to official State House biography, he was Director of Safety and Security for ten years.

Married for 42 years to his wife, Elizabeth, the couple of have two children and four grandchildren.   Family has always been central in his life, he said, and to this day he still credits his parents with teaching him strong moral values, but even more importantly, the importance of “being compassionate to people.”

“I think that doing good for others was instilled in me,” he said, adding that he likes to think his parents would be proud of his new role at the State House.  “Let’s just say that after the election, I visited the cemetery and had a long talk with them,” he said.

Fascia campaigned on a platform of fiscal responsibility, family values, transparency and accountability to voters.  His campaign website describes him as conservative on some issues including opposing “WOKE ideology, benefits for illegal aliens and gender reassignment for children.”

He has been appointed to serve on three House standing committees: Education, Municipal Government and Housing,​ and Labor.

A Johnston resident for 26 years, Fascia said he wants the town – and the northwest parts of Cranston he represents – to continue to be good places to live. 

And despite the fact that he can, at times, still have the serious demeanor of a former police sergeant, he says he doesn’t actually take himself too seriously.

“What do I do in my spare time?” he queries after being asked the question.  “I’m old,” he says.  “I have the obligatory tomato garden in my backyard.  I really like being out there enjoying the sunshine.”

“My hope,” he said, “is to make sure that the Johnston and Cranston voters I represent have a voice at the statehouse that echoes their feelings – not someone else’s political agenda.”