challenge to Cranston Mayor Ken Hopkins

Cranston Mayor Ken Hopkins defeated Rep. Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung in Tuesday’s Republican primary to lead his city, unofficial results show.

“Our message was very simple,” Hopkins said in his victory speech. “We wanted to restore Cranston’s finances, and we did that. We wanted to build 21st-century schools, and we’re continuing to do that, and we have the safest neighborhoods. God bless our Cranston police department.”

The popular mayor overcame a wave of criticisms — from his former political ally and the wife of his predecessor, not to mention ethics complaints and allegations of not returning a vintage sports car to its owner —  to secure his name on the ballot for the general election in November. Hopkins will face Democratic challenger Robert Ferri, a Cranston city councilor who previously had been a Republican.

With 100% of precincts reporting, Hopkins secured about 59% of the vote to Fenton-Fung’s 41%.

On Tuesday morning, after Hopkins cast his vote at Garden City School in Cranston with 7-year-old granddaughter Chloe Shackleford in tow, he said he felt “very confident” that the primary results would be in his favor.

The Republican contest for mayor dominated headlines and was closely watched in a state where Democrats hold all general offices and all but nine seats in the General Assembly. Hopkins, 70, has been mayor since January 2021. Fenton-Fung, 43, chose not to seek reelection to her House District 15 seat so she could run for mayor. Her husband, Allan Fung, served as Cranston’s mayor from 2009 to 2021. 

Fung rallied behind Hopkins in the 2020 election, but there was an eventual falling-out between the former and current mayors — a rift whose origin was partially recounted by Hopkins during an Aug. 26 debate at Cranston Public Library. But Hopkins apparently didn’t need the support of his former friends this time around. Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” played as the triumphant incumbent pumped his fists in the air and strode to the podium in the event hall at St. Mary’s Feast Society and proceeded to sling some final arrows against Fenton-Fung’s campaign.

“The primary voters sent the message loud and clear: Don’t lie, don’t exaggerate and don’t mislead in your campaign to win at all costs,” Hopkins said. “Be honest in your message.” 

Meanwhile, at an event room at Asia Grille in Garden City, a deflated but pragmatic Fenton-Fung took her turn at the podium to deliver her concession speech to a room that included family, supporters and media.

“He’s not picking up, so I can’t concede,” Fenton-Fung told the crowd.

Fung, who had been hunched over a laptop refreshing precinct results, asked his wife if she wanted him at the podium. 

“It’s OK,” she said. “I’ve done this before.”

Fenton-Fung congratulated Hopkins, but wasn’t ready to endorse either candidate Tuesday night: “I’ll be honest. I don’t, I can’t, feel like I can support anybody tonight…So I want to just keep my powder dry, and in the meantime, really wish everybody the best, and I hope that the general election is a lot more about policy than it was about some of these mailers.”

Fenton-Fung delivered her speech in a room wallpapered with a border of oversized fortune cookie fortunes, complete with lucky numbers. Behind her: “May you always be surrounded by true friends.”

On another wall, an omen read: “The fortune you seek is in another cookie.”

Purple votes

Of the 55,909 registered voters in Cranston, 15% are registered as Republicans, or nearly 8,700 people. The largest pool of registered voters belong to no party at all: 57% of Cranstonians are unaffiliated. But that lack of party alignment has not been historically reflected in the mayor’s office, a post that for decades has been held by Republicans more often than not.

Hopkins didn’t waste any time in turning in his attention to his next challenger — City Councilor Ferri, who has switched political parties after having been a Republican as recently as 2020. 

“Our opponent in November used to be one of us, and is now one of them. He represents a progressive liberal agenda that Cranston does not want,” Hopkins said. “The people of Cranston love the quality of life that we have, and we don’t want to turn to that type of agenda.” 

Speaking to reporters after her concession speech, Fenton-Fung — who is one of the more moderate Republicans in the Rhode Island House of Representatives — spoke to her own ethos. 

“Maybe our country is too divided for all of us who kind of govern in the middle,” Fenton-Fung said. “But I’m always going to stay true to who I am. There’s some things that I love that are very republican. There are some things that are very democratic. Sometimes a good idea is a good idea, not depending on who actually proposed it.” 

Tuesday morning, Ferri stood outside Hope Highlands Middle School while Fenton-Fung and her husband voted inside.

“I have gotten dozens of phone calls from people that are unaffiliated voters, and they’re all asking me, ‘Do you want me to go vote today for one of your competitors?’” Ferri said Tuesday morning. “I truly believe that no matter which Republican candidate wins today, I will run a good race against that candidate.”

But why had the mayoral candidate decided to hang out around Fenton-Fung’s voting spot?

Ferri smiled before he explained: “Just to give people the alternative that if the result isn’t what they wanted today, that they do have another choice.”

Michael Salerno contributed to this story.