This Republican can be Rhode Islands next governor. But he might run for the wrong office – The Boston Globe

And unless they can get their act together in a hurry, Republicans are at risk of their weakest showing in a race for governor since 1992, the year Bill Clinton won the presidency and Democratic Governor Bruce Sundlun rolled to reelection over Elizabeth Leonard.

It doesnt have to be this way at least not when it comes to this years governors race. GOP party chair Cienki could pick up the phone today and recruit a popular, battle-tested candidate with enough name recognition and support to vault the party from being an afterthought to a serious contender.

His name is Allan Fung.

The former Cranston mayor just completed his first full year out of politics in almost two decades hes a law partner at Pannone Lopes Devereaux & OGara LLC but he clearly misses the game. Hes been talking to friends and supporters behind the scenes about running for state treasurer, which might be easier to win, but would undoubtedly be less fulfilling.

Fung was term-limited in 2020, and he left office as popular as ever.

He built the citys rainy day fund above $20 million, which sounds boring but proved that it doesnt take steep tax increases to balance budgets. He led the effort to make Garden City the premier shopping center in Rhode Island and that includes Providence Place. Cranstons population even increased under Fung, helping the city pass Warwick for second-largest in the state.

Even the Democrats running to replace him had hardly anything critical to say about his tenure in City Hall. Then his handpicked candidate, Ken Hopkins, easily won a Republican primary and the general election to become mayor.

That wasnt even Fungs biggest win of the year. His helped his wife, Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung, unseat House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello in one of the most significant Republican victories in all of New England (US Senator Susan Collins reelection in Maine might be the only exception).

Its easy to sleep on Fung because he lost two races for governor to Gina Raimondo, but she wasnt exactly a pushover. Shes the best fund-raiser the state has ever known, and she ended up getting an interview for vice president with Joe Biden. She settled for US commerce secretary, and shes still getting her name mentioned in stories about running for president in 2024.

This time around, Raimondo wont be walking through that door.

The Democrats have a crowded field that includes incumbent Governor Dan McKee, Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, state Treasurer Seth Magaziner, former CVS executive Helena Foulkes, and former secretary of state Matt Brown. Theyre all impressive in their own way, but none of them have a track record in politics that can match Fungs.

Theres a potential for a moderate-to-conservative Republican or independent to win this race, said John Loughlin, a former Republican candidate for Congress who now hosts a talk show on WPRO-AM. Youve such a huge primary on the Democratic side, and theyre all going to damage each other. By September, well hate all of them.

Patrick Sweeney, an attorney and Republican operative who ran Fungs campaign against Raimondo in 2014, said voters might struggle with a third Fung candidacy, although he noted that it took Sundlun three tries before he became governor.

But Sweeney said the race could be attractive for Fung because he has still has nearly universal name recognition in Rhode Island and a substantial donor base. Add in the idea that Republicans are expected to have a good year nationally, and theres a case to be made for the party winning back the governors office.

Republicans will not have a better political environment than this for another 20 or 30 years, Sweeney said.

Thats not to say Fung would be a shoo-in.

One significant challenge is that he and Cienki have never seen eye to eye. Fungs wife resigned from a spot on the Republican State Central Committee in 2019 when Cienki became chair. When I asked Cienki about the idea of Fung running for governor, all she said was that she doesnt think hes interested in that job.

There are conservative members of the party who think Fung is too moderate, a challenge similar to the one Governor Charlie Baker has always faced with his own party in Massachusetts. Interestingly, Fungs biggest liability against any Democrat would be the photo of him wearing a Donald Trump winter cap at Trumps inauguration in 2017.

Fung wont wow you with a grand vision for the next generation of Rhode Island, but hes a steady leader who gives the Republicans a fighting chance. Hed make a reliable manager of the $1.1 billion in federal COVID funding the state still has to spend, and Rhode Island voters have proved in the past that they like the idea of having a Republican leading the state to balance a Democratic-dominated General Assembly.

But if its going to happen, Cienki needs to get those wheels moving now. She needs to make nice with Fung, do her best to clear the field of any primary opponents, and convince him that being treasurer just isnt very sexy.

For his part, Fung has been sending my calls to voicemail as though Im a debt collector. But Sweeney, his former campaign manager, said Fung will have to decide if this is right moment to take one last shot at running for the states top job.

One thing is for sure, you only get three bites at the apple, Sweeney said. There is no fourth try.

Dan McGowan can be reached at dan.mcgowan@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @danmcgowan.

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This Republican can be Rhode Islands next governor. But he might run for the wrong office - The Boston Globe