CRANSTON – Former Mayor Allan W. Fung, who twice unsuccessfully ran for Rhode Island governor, is now making a push for Congress.
Fung, now a partner with Johnston-based law firm Pannone Lopes Deveraux & O’Gara LLC, announced Friday that he will be running for Rep. James R. Langevin’s soon-to-be vacant 2nd District seat in the U.S. House as a Republican. Fung tweeted Friday the phrase, “I’m back,” showing a “Fung for Congress” logo.
In an email announcing his candidacy, Fung – who served as Cranston mayor from 2009 through 2021 – said he ran for mayor because he saw the city “heading down the wrong path” and touted how he helped stabilized the city’s finances during his tenure. Now, Fung said he senses that the nation is “going in the wrong direction” and that a “problem-solver” is needed.
“From record-setting inflation that is robbing you of your hard-earned dollars in the grocery stores and at the gas pump, to a feeling that we are less safe at home, it’s just not working for your family or mine,” Fung said. “Instead of focusing on the problems weighing on people each night at the dinner table, [Washington,] D.C. politicians spend their time attacking one another with the same old talking points. We need leaders who are willing to work with people on both sides of the aisle to bring commonsense solutions to our everyday problems.”
Fung unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2014 and 2018, losing both times to Democrat Gina M. Raimondo, now the U.S. commerce secretary. He said he plans to share his platform when his campaign officially launches “in the near future.”
Fung joins fellow Republican Robert Lancia in the race.
On the Democratic side, Michael Neary, a former advocate for Ohio Gov. and 2016 presidential candidate John Kasich; R.I. Treasurer and former gubernatorial candidate Seth Magaziner; Clarendon Group CEO and past Gov. Gina M. Raimondo communications director Joy E. Fox; Refugee Dream Center Founder Omar Bah and Rhode Island College Interim Director of External Relations and Communications Edwin R. Pacheco are all in the running for Langevin’s seat.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
