Dr. Stephen Skoly to pursue run for Rhode Island Congressional seat held by Rep. Seth Magaziner

Photo: NCLA

The Rhode Island Center for Freedom & Prosperity announced that Dr. Stephen “Doc” Skoly has stepped down as their Chairman of its Board to pursue a run for the US House of Representatives in Rhode Island’s second Congressional district. 

Skoly states Rhode Island’s unsustainable energy policies, advancing affordability policies, promoting medical freedom, and preserving parental rights in education each of which, he said, will provide him with a solid platform for his candidacy.

Skoly, who is a Republican, will seek Rep. Seth Magaziner’s position. Magaziner, in his win, said he would “move to the 2nd Congressional District”, but in 2024 said he no longer planned to move to the district he represents, but will stay living on the East Side of Providence.  Skoly lives in East Greenwich, in the 2nd District, and has a dental practice – Associates in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery in Chapel View, Cranston.

Magaziner has faced criticism for not living in the 2nd District after pledging move there during his first run, and announced on WPRI 12’s Newsmakers earlier this year that he no longer planned to move to the district from his home on Providence’s East Side. Skoly lives in East Greenwich, which is in the 2nd District, and practices in Cranston.

Political Engagement and Medical Choice

Skoly became a statewide symbol for medical freedom in 2021 when he took a stand on behalf of all healthcare professionals and first responders and put his career at risk during the pandemic crisis. In the announcement, his advocacy for Rhode Island’s energy policies, which he calls “unsustainable”, as well as advancing affordability policies, promoting medical freedom, and preserving parental rights in education will “provide him with a solid platform for his candidacy”.

During the COVID crisis, Skoly was advised by his doctor not to take the new vaccine as he had a past medical condition, Bell’s Palsy, and it would be contraindicated for him. The state threatened to take his license under the healthcare-worker vaccination mandate and Skoly suspended his practice during the crisis. He also noted that he was protected by natural immunity.

The Center for Freedom & Prosperity says about his decision: “history now shows was based on scientific truths, resulted in the vengeful and unconstitutional shuttering of his surgical practice for six months by the RI Department of Health.  Skoly’s related lawsuit challenging the vaccine mandate was never allowed to go to trial by both the Federal District Court in Rhode Island and the US First Circuit Court of Appeals”. 

“Americans at every turn must have the freedom to make their own personal, medical, educational, and economic choices,” commented Skoly. 

Unique Medical Practice

In his medical practice, Skoly specializes in highly specialized surgical services, including complex trauma care such as broken jaws and other serious facial injuries — procedures not performed by routine dentists. Because oral and maxillofacial surgeons are rare in Rhode Island, his practice has served a significant patient population, including state agencies and underserved communities. He has also provided services to state institutions, including care for patients at Eleanor Slater Hospital and the Adult Correctional Institute.

Rhode Island has roughly 25–30 practicing oral & maxillofacial surgeons statewide — making it one of the smallest specialist pools in New England for this field. Oral & maxillofacial surgeons are dual-trained surgical dentists that perform hospital-level trauma surgery such as  jaw reconstruction, facial trauma, complex anesthesia, and correctional & institutional care. They have one of the longest training tracks in dentistry/medicine.

A Changing Rhode Island Voter Profile – a One-Party Congressional Delegation

Rhode Island has been without Republican representation at the federal level for nearly two decades. The state last elected a Republican to Congress in 2007, when Sen. Lincoln Chafee left office, and has not sent a Republican to the U.S. House since 1989. At the state level, the last Republican governor was Donald Carcieri, who served from 2003 to 2011. Since then, both Rhode Island’s congressional delegation and the governor’s office have remained exclusively Democratic.

Rhode Island is not alone. Across much of New England, Democrats now hold nearly 100 percent of congressional seats, even as Republican presidential candidates routinely draw 35 to 45 percent of the vote statewide. In Rhode Island, about 42 percent of voters voted Republican in 2024, yet all four members of the state’s congressional delegation are Democrats — a pattern mirrored in neighboring states where electoral outcomes and party registration no longer translate into proportional representation in Washington.

Rhode Island has one of the highest shares of unaffiliated voters in New England — nearly one in two registered voters — yet neither independents nor Republicans hold any seats in Congress, leaving a one-party delegation despite a highly mixed electorate.

RI’s 2020 Census Recount Likely to Impact Representation

After the 2020 Census, Rhode Island’s population count was close to the threshold where it could have lost one of its two U.S. House seats — and there’s evidence a miscount in the 2020 census likely allowed RI to keep its second seat. The official Census Bureau apportionment ultimately kept Rhode Island at two House seats, despite early projections that population trends might cause it to drop to one. A later review found Rhode Island among the states with an overcount in 2020, strengthening the idea that a more accurate count might have reduced the state’s representation.

If Rhode Island loses a House seat after the next census, one district would be eliminated, leaving a single at-large seat and potentially pitting the state’s two current members against each other.

Skoly is believed to be running as a Republican. His official announcement has yet to be made.