Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee on Wednesday nominated a longtime former state official, Stefan Pryor, to return to his former role as Commerce secretary.

Pryor signed on to lead the state’s economic development efforts before Gov-elect Gina Raimondo took office in 2015.

Over time, he touted a series of high-profile job announcements , some of which yielded far fewer jobs than originally expected; Rhode Island still faced familiar economic development challenges when Raimondo left in 2021 for a job with the Biden administration.

In 2022, Pryor lost a Democratic primary run for state general treasurer.

By 2023, he switched to a role as state Housing secretary after a previous nominee, Josh Saul, didn’t work out. Pryor’s tenure was controversial and included internal struggles, incomplet

See Full Page