Stefan Pryor finally confirmed as Rhode Island Commerce secretary

Rhode Island Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor can finally remove the “interim” from his title following his confirmation vote by the Senate Tuesday.

The 28-7 vote came within minutes, nearly eight months after Gov. Dan McKee’s nomination last August. The lag prompted legal questions over Pryor’s ability to serve on an interim basis, with the executive and legislative branches failing to reach agreement.

Secretary in name only? Legal dispute reemerges in confirmation hearing for Stefan Pryor

Sen. Sam Bell, a Providence Democrat, reiterated the Senate legal counsel’s own misgivings Tuesday. State law lists 11 cabinet positions that the governor can fill on an interim basis, but Commerce secretary is not one of them.

“I think it’s problematic,” Bell said. “We as the Senate need to make sure we enforce these laws. Our role in advice and consent matters.”

Sen. Dawn Euer, a Newport Democrat also voted against confirming Pryor to the $238,597-a-year-position, citing legal questions in a text message Tuesday night.

But McKee’s office insisted that even without statutory authority, the governor had constitutional power to put Pryor in the seat before the Senate sign-off.

The two branches of government never came to agreement before Pryor’s confirmation, but are now working on legislation that would clarify future appointments for the Commerce secretary job, Greg Paré, a spokesperson for Senate President Valarie Lawson, said previously.

Pryor declined to comment on the stalemate Tuesday except to say he respects the Senate confirmation process. 

A New York native who was classmates with Gina Raimondo at Yale Law School in the 1990s, Pryor was among Raimondo’s first cabinet hires after she was elected governor in 2014. 

He is credited with helping reshape Commerce with a focus on luring big name companies to the state with public subsidies. He stepped down as Commerce secretary in order to run for state general treasurer in the 2022 election, losing to James Diossa by 11 percentage points in the September Democratic primary. Pryor returned to state government to take over the newly created housing department as the state’s second housing secretary. He served 18 months, leaving in July 2024 for a private sector job.

A polarizing figure

Pryor’s supporters lauded his results-driven approach to economic development and later, a state housing and homelessness crisis.

“He’s a seasoned and talented veteran in the field of economic development and I’m confident our state’s future will be bright with Stefan now officially leading the way at Commerce,” House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi said in a statement. 

Sen. Tiara Mack, a Providence Democrat, credited Pryor for “vigorously” addressing homelessness as housing secretary, adding more than 300 shelter beds to the state roster and working to purchase the former Charlesgate Nursing Center in Providence to serve as a family shelter. 

Yet progressives disagreed with the use of state incentives for deep-pocketed companies during Pryor’s tenure as Commerce secretary, including the deal to funnel $36 million in state and local taxpayer dollars toward the Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket. Soon after he resigned as housing secretary, news reports revealed he circumvented state procurement protocols.

Sen. Ryan Pearson, a Cumberland Democrat who voted against Pryor’s appointment Tuesday, said in a text message that he did not think Pryor was the right choice for the  job.

“I have been consistent on him and many state house leaders have had concern for some time,” Pearson said. “The track record at housing was not positive.” 

Both Euer and Pearson also suggested in separate text messages that the appointment was the product of negotiations between the legislature and governor’s office, and that favor trading was to blame for the delay in the vote.

“The specific timing written into certain appointments is intended to avoid funny business like this and they should be followed,” Euer said.

Paré previously cited scheduling conflicts as the reason why the Senate didn’t hold a confirmation hearing on Pryor until March 24. The Senate Committee on Commerce committee had only met once before, on March 10, since the 2026 legislative session began in January.

Giselle Mahoney, a spokesperson for Commerce, did not directly comment on criticisms of Pryor or the nomination process.

“We are grateful for the Senate’s overwhelming support,” Mahoney said in a text message.

Pryor, who fills the vacancy left after former Secretary Liz Tanner stepped down to lead a nonprofit tied to the World Cup, called the return to government work “an opportunity” he could not pass up. 

In an interview after his confirmation Tuesday, he pointed to the state’s blue economy, and accompanying defense industry, as a sector he hoped to promote during his second go-round at Commerce. He also highlighted work to establish Rhode Island as a life sciences hub akin to Cambridge and Worcester, Massachusetts. S

All four Senate Republicans — Jessica de la Cruz, Elaine Morgan, Thomas Paolino and Gordon Rogers — also voted against Pryor’s confirmation Tuesday.

“When we looked at former Secretary Pryor’s first seven years as Commerce Secretary, we were not thrilled with all the corporate welfare policies that Secretary Pryor was pushing,” Lee Ann Sennick, a spokesperson for the Senate Minority Office, said in an email Tuesday night. “Today’s economic challenges demand leadership that brings innovative and equitable policies to attract and keep businesses in RI, not more failed government policies of selecting winners and losers.”