PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, the first woman to lead the chamber and a strong advocate for social services during more than eight years in charge, announced Wednesday that she is stepping down to head a hospital trade group.

After presiding over an emotional final Senate session, Democrat Paiva Weed told reporters she will resign as president Thursday, give up her Senate seat in a "few days" and become president of the Hospital Association of Rhode Island by May 1.

"The opportunity came now," Paiva Weed told reporters about her decision to leave the Senate. "I knew I had a group [of senators] that would carry on the things that I believed in. Sometimes, you just follow your intuition."

The sudden change in Senate leadership midway through the 2017 legislative session raised immediate questions about who will succeed Paiva Weed as president.

But by the time of Paiva Weed's announcement Wednesday afternoon, all indicators pointed toward her top lieutenant, Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio, taking over.

Senate Democrats will meet Thursday in open session at 3 p.m. to vote for a new leadership team.

Although Paiva Weed declined to endorse a successor Wednesday, Ruggerio, a Providence Democrat who has served in the General Assembly for 36 years, said after the Paiva Weed news conference that he intends to seek the top spot in the Senate with Paiva Weed's tacit approval.

"Let's say this: she was not against me running for Senate president ... we have had a phenomenal working relationship," Ruggerio said. "She basically felt that I would be a good person to succeed her and that is the most flattering thing anyone could ever say."

Ruggerio, who was elected to the House of Representatives in 1981 and the Senate in 1984, is the administrator for the New England Laborers Labor Management Cooperation Trust, and said Wednesday he is considering retiring from the union post. He made $205,325 from the Laborers in 2015, according to tax filings.

"This is an arduous task, this job, and I saw the amount of time [Paiva Weed] put into it," Ruggerio said.

Senate Democrats, who control 33 of 38 seats in the chamber, are scheduled to caucus on the leadership change immediately before Thursday afternoon's Senate session, when all senators will vote on a new president.

Ruggerio said he would endorse Sen. Michael McCaffrey, D-Warwick, to succeed him as majority leader. McCaffrey is the current chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and his promotion would cause an opening for that position.

Paiva Weed has been a close ally of Gov. Gina Raimondo and their partnership has become tighter this year as policy disagreements have flared between the governor and House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello.

Specifically, Paiva Weed has supported Raimondo's plan to provide Rhode Island residents two tuition-free years at public colleges.

She has also questioned the fairness of Mattiello's plan to eliminate the car tax to communities with currently low car taxes, such as her hometown of Newport.

Ruggerio has also been an ally of Raimondo, most recently last year to help pass legislation authorizing a statewide truck toll network, and many State House observers don't expect dynamics between the three offices to change significantly.

Within the Senate, House Minority Leader Dennis Algiere, R-Westerly, said he expects proceedings will continue largely as they have.

If Ruggerio and McCaffrey gain the top spots in the Senate, the top four legislative posts in the state would be held by lawmakers representing Providence, Cranston and Warwick. Paiva Weed's District 13 is in Newport and Jamestown.

In her 25 years in the Senate, Paiva Weed, an attorney, has focused considerable energy on improving the state's social services and health-care agencies.

On Wednesday, she said her proudest accomplishment was helping develop the RIte Care health insurance program for low-income children and families.

Her top legislative priority this year has been a package of bills to help people with mental illness.

"By rising to the top post in the Rhode Island Senate, she shattered a glass ceiling and has led her chamber with dignity, compassion and integrity for nearly a decade," Raimondo wrote about Paiva Weed in a statement.

The Hospital Association of Rhode Island represents the 10 hospitals in the state not affiliated with Lifespan.

Current president Michael Souza, who is also a registered lobbyist for the association, announced earlier this month his intention to step down. He made $280,000 in 2015, according to tax filings.

The state's revolving door law bars lawmakers from taking state jobs and lobbying their former colleagues for a year after leaving the legislature.

On Wednesday, Paiva Weed said she will not lobby the General Assembly for a year and plans to seek an advisory opinion from the State Ethics Commission on her future work for the hospital group.

— panderson@providencejournal.com / 277-7384

On Twitter: @PatrickAnderso_

— jbogdan@providencejournal.com / 277-7493

On Twitter: @JenniferBogdan