After years spent building a career aimed at improving educational outcomes for students, Dr. Cameron St. Germain is now ready to take his influence to a statewide level.

The Rhode Island native and East Providence resident since 2022 announced earlier this month he was running for the District 65 seat in the House of Representatives. The seat — the only House district in Rhode Island that exclusively covers East Providence (mostly Riverside but also a portion of Kent Heights) — is currently held by Matthew Dawson.

With Dawson confirmed to be running again, as well as another challenger, Riverside resident Grant Webber Wosencroft, filing their papers to run (all as Democrats), it is shaping up to be a three-way Democratic primary to win the seat in September.

In an interview last week, St. Germain talked about his past and looked forward to what he hoped would be his future advocating for East Providence residents from the State House.

“I grew up with a deep affinity and love for Rhode Island,” said St. Germain, who was born in Pawtucket and would later attend the Wheeler School and La Salle Academy in Providence.

He said that one of his most important formative experiences was participating in student theatre programs. “I think it made me who I am. It made me more confident and gave me the ability to feel confident with public speaking.”

St. Germain said his mother was a crucial role model for him, as she worked up from being a nurse assistant all the way to graduating from Brown and becoming an anesthesiologist. That, plus his passion for advocating for greater social justice, led him to pursue his bachelor’s in public health at George Washington University. During college, he said an internship with former Congressman James Langevin was a foundational experience.

“It was incredible getting to be able to be in that atmosphere and getting to give tours of Capitol Hill and talk with constituents from Rhode Island,” he said. “That, on top of the social justice lens, is really what started to pique my interest in delving more into policy.”

From there he joined the Teach for America corps, which brought him to Phoenix and a chance to earn his master’s through Arizona State University. He taught in the classroom for four years before returning to New England and taking a job as a fellow at the Rhode Island Department of Education, working to advance their adult learning opportunities. He ultimately was accepted to a doctorate in education program at Johns Hopkins University, which he passed last summer, where he focused his research on closing educational gaps between multi-language learners and native English-speaking students.

Why run for office?

While he said his work in classrooms has been rewarding, and even earned him a nod as District Teacher of the Year in 2024/25 for Southside Academy Charter School, St. Germain said he recognized the need to work on the machinations of the system itself rather than simply working within it.

“I love working with students and kids every day,” he said. “But I also realize that opportunity is not equally-distributed among students. And I realized over time that policy was going to be a lever to create change, which is what led me to announce my candidacy and run for state rep.”

St. Germain said that his background in education, and understanding of the system, would lend to his ability to actually enact changes that resulted in better outcomes for students who are regularly not hitting targets in core state standards.

“I would say that educational institutions are complex systems,” he said. “Having a knowledge of the funding formula in Rhode Island…knowing how to navigate that complex system and support various stakeholders in making decisions, being able to dive into data, being able to look at differing vantage points and come to a consensus is going to be huge in my future work at the House.”

His other big area of focus for his campaign is on affordability.

“People are feeling priced out right now and are feeling cost burdened,” he said. “I recently read that 47% of East Providence's renters are feeling cost burdened by their rent. Utility bills and groceries and all those things are skyrocketing.”

To aid that, St. Germain said he was a supporter of what he called “reasonable development”, which acknowledges that the current stock of housing is insufficient, but still strives to be wary about what makes East Providence a nice place to live.

“I think this is a huge issue because I think one thing I've learned over my time since I've moved to East Providence is that people love the character, they love the charm, they love the green spaces that East Providence offers,” he said. “We do have to build to support reduction in prices surrounding housing…but we need to think through it in such a way that we're not taking away from the character and the charm that already exists within East Providence.”

Although he is relatively new to East Providence, he said he has quickly become enchanted with the natural beauty of the bike path and the vibrant small business community. He said that, while he might not be a native Townie, he is adept at speaking with people to understand their priorities and deliver for them.

“Although I'm a new and fresh face to the community, I think my personality is rooted in collaboration and rooted in understanding and trying to cultivate relationships,” he said. “I think education has really refined my skills and being able to build those bonds.”