Former state Sen. Cindy Coyne is looking to return to the Rhode Island State House, not as a lawmaker but as lieutenant governor.
Coyne, 63, on Tuesday announced her 2026 campaign for the state’s second-highest executive office, a seat currently held by Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos, a Providence Democrat.
“My work has been about bringing people together,” Coyne wrote in her announcement. “Listening to people. Seeking the truth and solving problems. That’s what government should be about and that’s what I’ll do as your next Lieutenant Governor.”
The Barrington Democrat was first elected to her Rhode Island Senate District 32 seat in 2014. Coyne beat Republican challenger Giovanni Cicione to fill the seat left vacant by Republican Sen. David Bates, who held the seat for 22 years but decided not to seek reelection. Coyne served through 2022, then decided not to run again. The District 32 seat is now filled by Democrat Pam Lauria, also a Barrington resident. The district spans Barrington and parts of Bristol and East Providence.
Accompanying Coyne’s campaign announcement included a website and a one-minute, 41-second video recapping her achievements in state politics and her career as a Rhode Island State Trooper.
Coyne is the first challenger to officially enter the ring against Matos, who was elected for a full term in 2022 following her 2021 appointment to the role by Gov. Dan McKee. McKee served as lieutenant governor for Gina Raimondo, who resigned to go work for the Biden administration.
“I expect there to be a lot of political announcements in the 18 months between now and the election, but I remain focused on my job and serving the people of Rhode Island by lowering the cost of groceries, protecting our small businesses and caring for our seniors,” Matos said in a statement Tuesday.
Coyne chaired the Senate Committee on Judiciary, among the chamber’s most powerful roles. She led successful legislation to disarm people convicted of domestic abuse and sponsored bans on ghost guns as well as a 10-round limit on magazines. In 2017, she sponsored legislation that defined state penalties regarding human trafficking, and the bill later became law. Alongside Rep. Teresa Tanzi, Coyne introduced legislation to raise the state’s smoking age to 21, which eventually became law in 2021.
A 2016 bill sponsored by Coyne led to the creation of child fatality reporting mandates for the state’s youth welfare agency.
The Pawtucket-born and raised Coyne was one of the first women to graduate from the Rhode Island State Police Training Academy and worked with the State Police from 1985 to 2006, rising from a trooper to the rank of lieutenant. She attended the 10-week training program at the FBI National Academy in 1990.
She served on the Barrington Town Council from 2010 to 2014, voting to support a successful ban on plastic bags in the town. Barrington was one of the first municipalities in New England to support such a ban.
Coyne was the council’s liaison to the town’s Senior Services Advisory Board and took special interest in issues affecting elderly people and seniors as a state senator. She led the 2019 legislation that established a 13-member advisory committee on how the state funds, researches and provides guidance for Alzheimer’s disease — a bill prompted by Coyne’s own father, who died from Alzheimer’s.
That 13-member commission remains a component of the state’s Alzheimer’s care strategizing, according to a 2024 report from the state health department and the office of current Lt. Gov. Matos.
Coyne earned a swimming scholarship to attend the University of Rhode Island, graduating in 1983 with a bachelor’s in political science and economics. Six years later, Coyne earned a Bachelor of Science in administration of justice from Roger Williams University.
The statewide primary is set for Tuesday, September 8, 2026.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
