Mayor Fung Wins Second Term

CRANSTON, RI - Mayor Allan Fung beat Democrat Michael Sepe in one of the state's marquee races this Election Day.

Fung ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2014 in a three-way race ultimately won by Gov. Gina Raimondo. This race is regarded as a test of the mayor's resilience and his political future.

Sepe has charged Fung only wants to use Cranston as a stepping stone to higher office. The mayor will have to look for a new job in four years, even if he wins tonight because Cranston has term limits. Fung cannot run for mayor again.

He asked Fung to pledge he would serve through his entire second term and not run for governor again.
Fung dismissed the challenge and said he is committed to the city.

Then, he claimed Sepe is running because he wants to raid the $20 million Rainy Day Fund which the city has amassed under Fung's leadership.

Fung was banking on his success saving Cranston from financial disaster. Besides turning around the city's finances, he has not raised taxes during his entire four-year term.

Sepe has also criticized Fung's problems with the police department, specifically the ticketing scandal. Officers allegedly wrote more than 100 parking tickets as pay back after two councilors voted against the police contract.

Fung pointed out he called for a state police investigation, though he knew he would be criticized. In fact, the state police did fault Fung for his handling of the matter and said he should have disciplined officers who stepped out of line. Instead, the mayor protected them because of political considerations, the state police said. Fung was also accused of burying the report during his campaign for governor. Ultimately, a new police chief, Col. Michael Winquist, was appointed the new chief.

The top of the ticket briefly became an issue in Cranston's mayoral race when the two candidates debated days after the Access Hollywood tape was aired with remarks Trump made about women.

Sepe challenged Fung for not withdrawing his support.

"Look," Fung said, Everybody knew Trump was not his first choice. But he was committed to supporting the Party's candidate.

Fung supported Donald Trump for president. Sepe backed Hillary Clinton.