Here's the RI Business Owner Eyeing a Run for Governor in 2026
GoLocalProv News Team and News Editor Kate Nagle
Here's the RI Business Owner Eyeing a Run for Governor in 2026
Businessman Greg Stevens - who currently owns Pat’s Italian Restaurants around the state - told GoLocal he is now seriously considering a run for the state’s highest office.
Stevens, who says he has never been involved in politics, said that the current climate has encouraged him to think about launching a campaign.
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Stevens said he would run as a Democrat.
"But I can work with anybody," said Stevens. "I see the person, not the party. But diversity is important to me."
Currently, incumbent Democratic Governor Dan McKee has declared his intention to run again in 2026.
Helena Foulkes, who lost to McKee in the Democratic primary in 2022 and has been regularly out-fundraising McKee since then, and Speaker of the House Joe Shekarchi, who is sitting on a war chest of more than $3 million, have widely been considered to be eyeing bids at the office this cycle.
Looking at a Political Run
"There are so many things that can be fixed," said Stevens, who said among his driving forces was his family’s experience putting his mother in a nursing home in the state, which he said was “traumatic.”
"The fact that you have to be dirt poor to get any help, is not much help at all," said Stevens.
“I feel too many politicians that we have today, already have, say, allegiances to say, an insurance company. I don’t know any lobbyists. I don’t know anyone from the insurance industry. There’s nobody I’d have any allegiances to," said Stevens.
And he said he thought a big political focus currently “concentrated too much" on Providence, and that he would want to visit every town in Rhode Island to talk with voters.
“That would probably be my campaign slogan - walk the walk. I just think there’s room for a newcomer and for somebody with a business background," said Stevens.
Stevens said he believes that in Rhode Island, there could be an appetite for a political "outsider."
"I’m known for getting things done," said Stevens.
The West Warwick native, who began his career in Massachusetts first in tech and then the mountain bike business, was lured back to Rhode Island when he took the helm of Pat’s Italian Restaurant in Johnston.
Now, with additional locations in Coventry and Cumberland, Stevens is about to embark on a new Pat’s destination in Warwick.
"I’ve had to work with government a lot with restaurants," said Stevens, who said when there have been red-tape issues, he "feels like there’s nowhere to call."
Now, in what is a highly divisive political climate, Stevens said that he thinks he could “work down the middle” easily.
Stevens said there are things under the Trump Administration that he agrees with - to a point.
"Removing gangs from our community, I agree with that," said Stevens. "But I also feel there is due process, we still have a Constitution to uphold, and we have judges we need to listen to."
“I haven’t lived my life in politics. I’ve lived my life in businesses, a blue-collar worker in the factories in West Warwick to now owning several restaurants. I’ve seen things that have held people back because of red tape. It just prevents progress, and I’m a big progress person," said Stevens.
As for now, Stevens is testing the waters to see if there is support to officially launch a campaign, and that he has a number of priorities he is planning on rolling out.
“Streamlining businesses is important to me,” he said. “And protecting the elderly.”
Stevens' entry to the race would be a game-changer.