Fung Announces Another Run for Mayor

CRANSTON, RI—Cranston Mayor Allan W. Fung announced he will seek another term as mayor of Rhode Island’s third largest city.

Fung made the announcement surrounded by friends and supporters at a birthday party and gathering in his honor at the Cranston Country Club on Thursday night.

Fung was first elected to the mayorship in 2008 and became Rhode Island’s first mayor of Chinese ancestry to take office.

Before becoming mayor, Fung worked as a prosecutor and was a City Council member for several years beginning in 2004.

Fung is seeking a fourth term; mayoral terms in Cranston went from 2 to 4 years in 2012 after voters approved a ballot referendum.

Fung is being challenged by longtime city Democratic leader Michael J. Sepe, an accountant, chairman of the Democratic City Committee and a key city power broker for decades.

Fung, despite a number of major political challenges over the past two years, including a widely-publicized police department scandal and his loss to Governor Gina Raimondo in a grueling gubernatorial race in 2014, is still highly regarded in his home city. It doesn’t hurt that taxes have stayed essentially flat in Cranston for nearly four years.

A child of Cranston, Fung grew up helping his parents run a Chinese restaurant before heading off to college and eventually getting a degree from Suffolk University’s Law School.

As mayor, Fung has proven to be affable and a gung-ho public servant, always touting his city’s economic growth during his tenure In private, he is a skillful negotiator who demands loyalty.

Photo courtesy Jeff Barone.