03/13/2026
Rhode Island’s 2026 lieutenant governor race is starting to feel real. On a Monday morning at an IHOP off I‑195, Newport City Councilor and former mayor Xaykham “Xay” Khamsyvoravong sat down over pancakes with a handful of nurses and doctors, talking about how hard it’s getting to see a primary‑care doctor in this state. He says health care, housing, and schools are the three legs of the stool that keep Rhode Island “workable” for regular families and that too many politicians are happy to study problems instead of fixing them.
On paper, Xay checks all the insider boxes. He’s 41, works in public finance, helped steer the treasurer’s office through the 2008 crisis, ran Providence Water, and now holds an at‑large council seat in Newport. Money is not his problem either. As of New Year’s Eve, he had about 158,000 dollars in the bank, more than fellow Democrats Sabina Matos, Cindy Coyne, and Sue AnderBois, and well ahead of Republican John Loughlin.
But people in Newport have already seen what his style of “fixing systems” looks like, and a lot of them are still angry about it. Last year, the city rolled out a new 81‑dollar minimum monthly sewer and water “base” charge, quietly built into the budget. Residents opened their bills and suddenly everyone from a single cancer patient on a fixed income to folks in big houses up the hill was paying the same flat fee, even if they barely used any water. One resident told the council, “You should be embarrassed. As far as I’m concerned, you’re all going to get voted out.” After weeks of outrage, the council admitted they “made a mistake” and moved to unwind it. Around the same time, Newport Buzz called out a proposed 5,000‑dollar‑a‑month lobbying contract tied to political allies, and there were stories about council “revolts” and side meetings that left people wondering who was really being listened to.
That matters because the lieutenant governor’s office is mostly a megaphone. It can be a soft landing spot for insiders, or it can be a pressure point on the rest of state government. Two of Xay’s opponents are trying to claim that second lane. Former state Sen. Cindy Coyne, a retired State Police lieutenant, talks a lot less about branding and a lot more about basic honesty ethics reforms, cleaner budgeting, and making it easier for people to vote and feel safe in their own neighborhoods. Republican John Loughlin, a former state rep and Army veteran, is running on one big idea: create an independent Office of Inspector General to chase waste, fraud, and corruption, and keep disasters like the Washington Bridge from blindsiding the public again.
Khamsyvoravong says he can fix the systems that are letting people down. Coyne and Loughlin are promising to watch the system itself and call out the games. After hidden fees, crumbling infrastructure, and one too many back‑room surprises, which kind of lieutenant governor do you think Rhode Island needs more right now another well‑connected insider, or a true watchdog for taxpayers?
