Cranston Mayor Ken Hopkins gives a thumbs up as his watch party becomes a victory celebration Tuesday night at St. Mary’s Feast Society. (Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
Cranstonians reelected Mayor Ken Hopkins Tuesday night, safeguarding a Republican ruling streak that’s been in place since 2009.
Hopkins prevailed narrowly over Democratic City Councilor Robert Ferri, capping off a long and vicious mayoral campaign season by winning 52% of the vote. Ferri received 48%, per unofficial results from the Rhode Island Board of Elections at midnight Wednesday. All precincts were reporting, and all ballots — from early voting , Election Day, and mail-in votes — had been counted.
Turnout in the city was the state’s third highest. A total of 53,645 out of 56,785 voters cast ballots. Early voters contributed 12,466 ballots, the highest in the state.
“From the bottom of my heart, my entire family thanks you,” Hopkins, 70, said at his watch party at St. Mary’s Feast Society — the Catholic church-based organization that hosts a massive feast every summer, a staple of the city’s social life. “It’s been a long 10 months. We took their best shots, and we’re still standing.”
Ferri had yet to concede as of 11:06 p.m., and a spokesperson said at that time that they were waiting for the mail ballots, which did not arrive until midnight.
But Hopkins did not wait, and took to the podium preemptively to address the watch party’s audience, many of them having waited for over two hours to hear him speak. Around 10 p.m., Hopkins emerged from behind a door adorned with a framed picture of the Virgin and Child.
“I wish Channel 10 would call and just say that, ‘Hopkins won this race,’” the mayor said, and the crowd cheered.
Hopkins thanked his supporters, his family and his fellow municipal Republicans, several of whom filled in seats on the City Council, according to tentative results. Hopkins also extended some grace to his opponent. “I would be remiss if I did not congratulate my opponent, Mr. Ferri, for putting his name on the ballot and getting into the arena with us,” he said.
That was a different take from Michael Traficante, who won the Ward 5 City Council seat Tuesday and is himself a former mayor of Cranston. Speaking prior to Hopkins’ speech, Traficante asked the crowd what place Hopkins would finish. The crowd roared “first place,” and then Traficante confirmed that his friend’s competitor would finish “no place.”
At the conclusion of his speech promising four more years of Cranston as “the premier city to work, live and raise a family” in Rhode Island, Hopkins said, “Let’s have a party right now,” and began dancing with his grandchildren as James Brown’s “I Feel Good” poured from the speakers.
The watch party was right across from Itri Park, a jewel in Hopkins’ mayoral portfolio, and one of the many initiatives he has led to beautify and enhance what is arguably his favorite neighborhood, Knightsville, since becoming mayor in 2020.
After the watch party ended, Hopkins and his crew strolled across the street, a crowd in tow, and turned on the lights. Night looked less like day, and a man shouted “Who’s better than us?” Hopkins’ grandchildren ran around the park.
Meanwhile, Ferri, 68, and his supporters and family held a watch party at Lang’s Bowlarama — something of a callback to his former gig as owner of Town Hall Lanes in Johnston.
Ferri’s spokesperson had not yet given a statement as of 12:15 a.m., after the mail votes unofficially confirmed Hopkins’ win.
The magma-hot mayoral race was one of the most closely watched contests across Rhode Island this election cycle. Part of the attraction might derive from the city’s unconventional voter base and leadership. A mere 15% of the city’s voters are registered as Republicans. Democrats make up 34% of the electorate. The majority of Cranston’s voters, 51%, prefer to remain unaffiliated. But this spirit of independence hasn’t quite echoed through the mayor’s office, where Republicans have historically found a comfortable home.
As of Oct. 28, Ferri’s campaign had an ending balance of $50,916, while Hopkins boasted a slightly more robust $84,739 in his campaign coffers.
Ferri, who campaigned as a Republican in 2020 and previously supported Hopkins, stressed in a recent debate on WPRI that he didn’t get along with the city’s GOP, causing him to switch parties. He also said he never voted for former President Donald Trump.
Two men go vote
While things got tense between Hopkins and Ferri in an Oct. 25 debate at WPRI-TV, the City Councilor was in high spirits as he strolled to his polling place at Western Hills Middle School on Tuesday morning. Ferri was accompanied by his wife Denise and son Russell, who had come from the Bronx to support his father on an unusually warm and crisp election day.
Ferri could feel the love. “I’m overwhelmed at the support I’ve gotten over the last 10 months,” he said. “A lot of people have supported me, donated money, they’ve given me the confidence that I’ve needed to do this…A lot of people want change, and I think today’s the day that it’s going to happen.”
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Ferri continued. “But there are enough people in this city that want things to be different. They want to have a seat at the table, which they don’t have now. So I’m going to be that Mayor. I’m going to be everyone’s mayor, regardless of party.”
Ferri’s message of unity ran counter to the race’s fever pitch. Preceding the general election was a high-tension Republican primary between Hopkins and state Rep. Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung — another former political ally, and one who happens to be the wife of his immediate predecessor, Allan Fung. Hopkins may have defeated the challenge from within his own party in September, but he did not emerge unscathed, thanks to Fenton-Fung’s last-minute spotlighting of a 2021 incident, in which the mayor drove off with a vintage MG and never paid the owner.
Hopkins revealed that the 1975 sports car is still parked in his garage, with aspirations to restore it in memory of his late wife, as it shares her initials. Hopkins noted a “gentleman’s agreement” had OK’d his possession of the vehicle, but the antique car haunted his race against Ferri, careening through most of their public debates.
Hopkins cast his own vote Tuesday at Garden City School with his own posse of grandchildren and family in tow and then spoke with reporters and posed for pictures. What about the case of the classic car?
“The common sense thing is someone pulls into your house and takes your car, you’re gonna report it right away,” Hopkins said, alluding to his previous allegation that the car’s former owner collaborated with Fenton-Fung for political ends. “You’re not gonna wait four years. People know that I’m not a thief…It was a gentleman’s agreement. Ultimately, the truth will come out.”
The controversy did not dent Hopkins’ good feelings.
“Tonight, we’re gonna have a big victory,” he predicted “I’m very confident…When you play a doubleheader, you get to win both of them. It’s a long year, but I’ve had a great team.”
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