1983Final resultsIncumbent defeated
1983 election for Rhode Island Senate District 17
Rhode Island State Senate · Rhode Island
William Pearson (R) won with 57.5% of the vote, defeating Thomas A. Lynch (D) by 15.0 points.
William PearsonRepublican · winner
57.5%1,260
Thomas A. LynchDemocrat · incumbent
42.5%931
2,191 votes
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1983
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET