Pryor announces campaign for R.I. treasurer

Updated at 3:54 p.m.

R.I. COMMERCE SECRETARY Stefan Pryor announced on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, that he is running for the Rhode Island Office of the General Treasurer. Pryor, a Democrat from Providence, served for seven years as Rhode Island's secretary of commerce. / PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
R.I. COMMERCE SECRETARY Stefan Pryor announced on Tuesday that he is running for the Rhode Island Office of the General Treasurer. Pryor, a Democrat from Providence, served for seven years as Rhode Island's secretary of commerce. / PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

PROVIDENCE – After serving as the state’s first commerce secretary since 2015, Stefan Pryor is joining the race for the Rhode Island Office of the General Treasurer.

Pryor, a Democrat, who was chosen by former Gov. Gina M. Raimondo to become commerce secretary, made an announcement about launching a campaign for state treasurer on Tuesday, stating that he aims to continue the work he and others have done toward “strengthening Rhode Island’s finances and advancing our economy.”

Pryor told The Providence Journal he is leaving his $233,000 per year cabinet post within two weeks to start his campaign. Pryor couldn’t immediately be reached for additional comment.

Pryor, 50, was previously the state of Connecticut’s top education official for four years, and he led a quasi-public agency that helped rebuild Lower Manhattan following the Sept. 11 attacks. Pryor was also once a deputy mayor of Newark under now-Congressman Cory Booker, and he was a Yale Law School graduate and a classmate of Raimondo.

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Pryor, a Providence resident, called it a “true privilege” to serve as Rhode Island’s commerce secretary under Raimondo and current Gov. Daniel J. McKee, alluding the difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The last two years have been very challenging for small businesses and industries impacted by the pandemic – and for Rhode Island’s families,” Pryor said in a news release sent to several media outlets. “We envision a treasurer’s office that is a catalyst for the economy, creating a stronger financial future for retirees and for all Rhode Islanders, supporting small and minority-owned businesses, helping families access the banking system, and more.”

During his time as secretary of commerce for Rhode Island, which involved running a quasi-public agency that operates programs providing business assistance and tax incentives to companies in an effort spur economic development, Pryor negotiated on behalf of the state to bring the recently announced $220 million planned residential redevelopment of the long vacant “Superman” building at 111 Westminster St. The city and state provided a combined $41 million in state and city financing to get the owner, High Rock Development, to go forward with the project.

So far, the only other Democrat in the race for state treasurer is former Central Falls Mayor James Diossa. Running on the Republican side is James Lathrop, the town finance director in North Kingstown.

Current State Treasurer Seth Magaziner is running as a Democrat for Congress, to represent Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District. Magaziner, who took office in 2015, is term-limited as state treasurer.

(Update: information about current General Treasurer Seth Magaziner added in 9th paragraph)

Marc Larocque is a PBN staff writer. Contact him at Larocque@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter @LaRockPBN.

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