Daniel J. McKee was sworn in as the 69th lieutenant governor of Rhode Island on Jan. 6, 2015.
Dan ran for lieutenant governor to create more economic opportunity for all Rhode Island families and to help build solvent communities and better public schools.
As a private citizen, small businessman and elected official, he has spent his adult life advocating for positive change in Rhode Island. His record is one of strong fiscal management, visionary education initiatives and thoughtful economic development.
Dan has a history of taking tough economic situations and turning them around. When he first became mayor of Cumberland, the town's finances were in shambles and its bond rating was close to junk status. Under his leadership, the rating was upgraded and, by the time he left office, Cumberland's finances were strong.
Dan has brought together mayors and other municipal leaders to save cities and towns millions of dollars in health care costs and push for adequate school funding. He successfully advocated for legislation that has changed the way the state approaches education. He worked diligently to establish Rhode Island Mayoral Academies, high-performing, diverse, regional public schools governed by mayor-led school boards. Dan has served on the U.S. Conference of Mayors Task Force on Public Education and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's Mayors Advisory Council. In 2009, he was honored with the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools' "Champion for Charters" award.
His tenure at the State House will be marked by the same leadership approach. He will use the lieutenant governor's office to support small businesses, improve the state's economic situation and be a champion of Rhode Island's cities and towns, which have been underrepresented. Under an executive order signed by Gov. Gina Raimondo in February 2015, Dan will lead an effort to help municipalities share services and pursue regionalization to promote efficiencies and cost savings.
He also will serve on the executive committee of the National Lieutenant Governors Association. He is co-chair of the NLGA's Energy Committee and a member of its Education Committee.
Dan is a lifelong Rhode Islander who graduated from Cumberland High School. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science and education from Assumption College in Massachusetts and a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He has owned and operated successful small businesses in the Blackstone Valley for three decades. Dan has been a member of the board of directors of the Boys and Girls Club of Cumberland-Lincoln for 25 years and served as a youth basketball coach.