To the editor:

Rhode Island is up against real challenges, and in Bristol we are seeing them firsthand. Our coastline is changing. Technology is upending the way people work. Meeting this moment takes state leaders who can protect our environment, support our schools, and grow our blue economy while standing up to interests that want solutions built for themselves.

That is why I am supporting Xay Khamsyvoravong for Lieutenant Governor. Xay is a Newport city councilor and served as the city's mayor from 2022 to 2024. I have known him a long time, and I have watched him work through complicated finance problems without losing sight of who they affect. He does not get rolled by people with money on the table. He has spent decades in the public and private sectors pulling communities out of financial trouble while lowering costs. When he chaired Providence Water, he moved the utility to solar power and got lead out of the drinking water, and saved ratepayers close to $1 million a year doing it. That is the job: keep the infrastructure working, and keep it affordable for the families who depend on it.

What sets him apart is what he has done in coastal towns like ours. Last year I followed the fight over the Birthing Center at Newport Hospital closely. Xay organized community members, worked with state government, and kept the maternity unit open, so mothers and children in our communities still have somewhere to go. I have spent eight years doing this work at the local level, and I know how hard it is to hold a coalition together long enough to finish something. Xay can do it.
Xay is my guy for Lieutenant Governor. It is time for a new generation of leadership that will get things done for Bristol and for the whole state.

Aaron Ley
Bristol