RI-LG: Republican Loughlin joins race for lieutenant governor

Rhode Island’s 2026 lieutenant governor’s race now has its first Republican candidate.

John Loughlin, a former state representative and House minority whip who made an unsuccessful run for Congress, announced his campaign Saturday on the WPRO-AM radio show he’s hosted since 2012 and will now end in order to run for the office. The Tiverton resident had posted on his Facebook page last month that he was running.

On Tara Granahan’s show Monday morning, Loughlin said he was “very excited to be bringing a completely different perspective than we’ve had for 90 years in the State House.” He filed papers early Monday afternoon to reactivate his campaign finance account.

An Iraq war veteran, Loughlin served 26 years in the Army and Air National Guard and runs Media-Rite, a television, radio and film production company. He was first elected to the Rhode Island House representing District 71 (Tiverton, Little Compton and Portsmouth) in 2004 and served three terms until his 2010 run for the First Congressional District seat that opened after the retirement of Patrick J. Kennedy. Loughlin lost to David Cicilline, receiving 44.6% of the vote to Cicilline’s 50.6%.



https://rhodeislandcurrent.com/briefs/republican-loughlin-joins-race-for-lieutenant-governor/