Candidates for open seat in Warwick split on charter school moratorium

Editor’s note: This is the second in a six-part series on state legislative races, chosen based on expected competitiveness between candidates and relevant issues to the district. Of the 113 seats in the Rhode Island General Assembly, all of which are elected every two years, 22 have primaries in September.

Janie Segui and Zak Pereira share a lot in common.

They’re both Warwick millennials who grew up watching their parents struggle to make ends meet, now confronting the same affordability challenges as adults. And both are running as Democrats for the open House District 22 seat vacated by former Rep. Joe Solomon Jr., who represented the district from 2014 to 2026. Solomon is now running for attorney general.

Energy costs, housing and healthcare feature prominently in both candidates’ campaign materials. Segui’s website includes a photo of her three cats, while Pereira has one of himself with his Bernese Mountain dog, Zuko.

More significant than pet preferences is the divide in their stances on charter schools.

As founder and CEO of Stop the Wait RI, Segui, a mother of two, turned her personal frustrations with trying to get her daughters admitted to a charter school into a full-time advocacy job starting in 2021. She was heavily involved in the campaign this year opposing a three-year charter school moratorium. The ban passed anyway, and was signed into law by Gov. Dan McKee in June.

Pereira, whose mom recently retired after working in Rhode Island public schools, said he would have voted in favor of the moratorium bill if he was in office.

“I am not against charters, but I had some concerns about the fiscal impact here in Warwick,” Pereira, 31, said. 

Segui, 40, still thinks charter schools remain a key way to improve education fairness and access, especially for low-income and minority students. But her campaign is about a lot more than charter schools. Case in point: the “issues” page of her website focuses on affordability and climate resilience before mentioning education.

That’s intentional, Segui said.

“Education is what people most know me for, but I care about a lot of things,” she said.

Flooding in Warwick, a worsening problem thanks to climate change, is top of mind for Segui, who hopes a part-time job at the State House could bring more money to her community and policy reforms for coastal resiliency statewide. She also wants to increase state funding to offset ratepayers’ energy bills and for transportation needs for local school districts.

Pereira, who ran for the same seat in 2022, losing to Solomon by 35 percentage points, sees healthcare as the top problem facing Rhode Islanders: cost, and access. The issue is personal for him, having watched his mom, who has stage 4 kidney disease, lost her physician last year because the doctor transitioned to concierge medicine. Pereira supports raising Medicaid reimbursement rates and expanding the state Wavemaker Fellowship, which offers refundable tax credits to recent college graduates who stay and work in in-demand fields, to address the healthcare worker shortage.

Still in the early stages of his career, Pereira is acutely attuned to the challenges facing seniors and veterans thanks to his day job at the University of Rhode Island, where he helps military members and veterans receive college credit for their life and work experience.

Lifelong Democrats, both Pereira and Segui eschewed the popular “moderate” vs. “progressive” categories.

“I don’t think most people, myself included, fit neatly into any bucket,” Pereira said.

Both said they would have voted for the ban on selling assault-style weapons approved by the General Assembly in 2025, a measure which Solomon, a moderate Democrat, voted against. 

Pereira also signaled initial support for the millionaire’s tax, which was included in the fiscal 2027 budget. Segui said she needed more information, explaining that she was so busy with the charter school legislation she had not followed the tax debate during the 2026 session.

Neither candidate offered any critiques of their opponent.

“I think we would be represented well either way,” Segui said.

The House 22 Democratic District Committee endorsed a third candidate, former state senator Tom Lynch, who later withdrew from the race. Solomon Jr. has not made an endorsement.

The winner of the primary will face Republican Barbara J. Quigley in the Nov. 3 general election.