As expected, Citywide Councilor Robert Ferri has joined what is expected to be a hard-fought mayoral race in Cranston.
In a campaign announcement on Tuesday, the second-term councilor said he is running “because Cranston needs a leader who will make our city work for its residents.”
“For too long, our city’s chief executive has been more interested in helping their well-connected friends than listening to and solving the problems of regular Cranston residents,” Ferri said. “Recent Cranston Mayors have neglected making long-term investments in our schools, housing, public safety, parks and recreation, and sidewalks and roads.”
Ferri ran as a Republican in 2020 and switched parties two years later, helping to propel a Democratic majority on the City Council.
He is the only Democrat to so far announce a run for mayor. According to his council profile, Ferri runs a small property management company and owned Town Hall Lanes in Johnston for 20 years.
The current mayor, Ken Hopkins, and state Rep. Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung, have already been criticizing each other as they gear up for a GOP primary to be settled in September.
Fenton-Fung is the wife of longtime former mayor Allan Fung, who backed Hopkins when he ran to succeed Fung in 2020.
