Newport Mayor Xaykham (Xay) Khamsyvoravong is attending the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week as an alternate delegate, joining a Rhode Island contingent that includes prominent state and federal officials.
The convention, which runs from Aug. 19-22, celebrates Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as the party’s president and vice president nominees.
In a phone interview on Wednesday with What’sUpNewp, Khamsyvoravong described the atmosphere as energetic, with the arena at capacity daily, describing the convention atmosphere as “absolutely terrific”.
“This is an incredibly well-energized party right now. There’s a lot of unity across the room,” Khamsyvoravong said.
“What we’re seeing is this is a forward or backwards argument that’s being made in this election, with the Democratic Party clearly owning that, we are prepared to lean forward in the future and have a level of optimism about what that looks like tonight,” said Khamsyvoravong.
On the contrasting visions of the two major political parties, Khamsyvoravong emphasizes the Democratic Party’s focus on a better future.
“On the one hand, you have the Republican Party’s vision under Donald Trump, which continues to be viewed as being more dangerous and extreme under the Project 2025 agenda that we are learning more and more about every single day at this conference as part of the programming that’s being provided”, said Khamsyvoravong. “The second, though, and the alternative is obviously our vision as a democratic party for a future where we are better off in the future than we are today, where the next generation has a brighter future than the one that we currently have right now, bringing back that little optimism that has energized this party traditionally and that we believe is going to be a winning message headed at the election”
Tackling Infrastructure Challenges at DNC
While at the convention, Khamsyvoravong is participating in policy meetings with fellow mayors from across the country, discussing shared challenges such as housing, infrastructure, and education.
These discussions occur in a separate hub set up by mayors near the convention arena, where policy meetings are held throughout the day.
“Yesterday, we talked about infrastructure for a good portion of the afternoon, and we’re digging in on a couple of the challenges we have,” Khamsyvoravong says. “First, getting that funding actually out the door and deployed requires a workforce that is ready to actually deliver on production of the infrastructure that we need.”
Khamsyvoravong emphasized the need for better workforce development and efficient funding deployment to support infrastructure projects across the country.
“We’re spending a fair amount of time talking about how we start to develop those labor pipelines we need, which obviously ties back to education and ensuring that the system that we have right now is adequately preparing our young people and our current employees for the jobs that we need filled today in order to rebuild,” Khamsyvoravong explains.
Khamsyvoravong notes that the issues confronting Newport, such as housing, resiliency, stormwater management, and education, are consistent with those faced by many other American communities.
“The challenges that we are facing in a place like Newport, whether it is housing or dealing with resiliency and stormwater or education, are consistent across many communities in America,” says Khamsyvoravong.
Raimondo Delivers
Former Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, now U.S. Secretary of Commerce, delivered a speech on the convention’s opening night.
Khamsyvoravong praised Raimondo’s speech, calling it “one of the bright points and highlights” for the Rhode Island delegation.
“This is somebody who has never forgotten where she comes from,” he said. “And to see her on the national stage delivering a great speech on the opening night of the convention was one of the bright points and highlights, I think, for the entire Rhode Island delegation.”
The convention has also featured speeches from party leaders, including former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Newport County At The Convention
Khamsyvoravong has some Newport County company at the convention.
“We’ve got Susan Taylor from the Newport Democratic City committee out here as a delegate, and she’s been doing a great job,” Khamsyvoravong said. “As you know, our state party chair is Liz Perik, from Jamestown. So she has been a great representation for the broader island community.”
Bringing The DNC Energy & A Plan Back To Rhode Island
With early voting beginning for the Rhode Island Primary today, Khamsyvoravong emphasized the importance of listening to diverse viewpoints and bridging political divides throughout the Primary and General Elections.
“One of the things last night that was stressed, that was one of my favorite points, is that we need to do a better job of listening,” Khamsyvoravong said. “We need to be listening to people who are coming for opposing views. We need to be doing it in a way that’s sincere so we can better understand how we bridge the gaps that our country has right now.”
Looking ahead for the party, Khamsyvoravong echoes Gov. Walz’s sentiment that “hope is not a plan.”
“What we need is a clear plan and we need to lean into executing on that plan,” he said. “We have a very short stretch of period here between now and the general election, obviously even shorter for those candidates that have primaries.”
“This convention, with its energy, is going to continue to build right through the end of the convention. And that’s going to power us into a sprint towards the general election. Very excited about what that potentially means for us come November,” said Khamsyvoravong.
The convention continues through Aug. 22, when Vice President Harris is scheduled to address the delegates and nation.
Mayor X is Socialist
Good to be meeting with other city mayors.
RI ranks in the fourth quartile of almost every measurable result. (Education, roads, Bridges, finances,) I could go on. The state mirrors the other Blue states and cities. So maybe the DNC should take a look back and correct the almost irreparable damage they have caused in the last four years. The economy is in the tank, the job growth is terrible, immigration is a mess, education is comparable to a third world country. Perhaps the mayor was a little confused about which convention he attended.
I hope you are getting paid for all your Mayor promotions.
I’m astonished and displeased that the Mayor, who is elected on a non-partisan basis, has used his status and office to support and advocate for a political party.
We were so happy to read that the Mayor of Newport supports the message of hope clearly expressed at the Democratic Convention. Without hope and cooperation we have nothing, which is what we would have under Donald Trump.
Hello former Third Ward Councilor, Kate Leonard. We are no being paid by the Mayor or by any other candidate or current/former Council members. We interviewed Xay, an elected Newport official, to share his experience at the DNC with our readers. We also thought it was important to share information on the meetings he was participating in while there, and how those might help the residents of Newport in the future.