Newport City Councilor Steph Smyth announced Wednesday she will run for a second term in the At-Large seat on the Newport City Council.
Smyth, whose surname is pronounced sm-EYE-th, was elected in 2024 as Newport’s second-highest vote earner. She is framing her re-election bid around a first-term record she says is built on transparent budgeting, long-range environmental planning and ethics reform.
“Serving the residents of Newport over the last two years has been the honor of my career,” Smyth said. “I’m asking voters for a second term re-election so I can finish what we’ve started: a city budget residents can be proud of, an environmental plan that outlasts election cycles, and a council that earns the trust of the people it serves.”
The Newport City Council has four ward members and three at-large members, all serving two-year terms. The full seven-member council is on the ballot Nov. 3, preceded by a Sept. 9 statewide primary. Voter registration deadlines are Aug. 10 for the primary and Oct. 4 for the general election. Mail ballot applications are due Aug. 19 and Oct. 13. Early voting begins Aug. 20 and Oct. 14.
In her first term, Smyth says she pushed for earlier FY27 budget workshops and a dedicated budget special meeting. She says she sponsored a resolution directing the Energy and Environment Commission to develop a 10-Year Energy and Environment Plan, which her office calls Newport’s first long-term sustainability framework.
She says she also sponsored resolutions requiring ethics training for elected officials and creating Newport’s first Standing Charter Review Commission. She says she has backed efforts to make streets and sidewalks safer for all modes of transportation, and has called for balancing a thriving tourism sector with the needs of year-round residents.
“Newport is one of the most consequential small cities in America, and protecting what makes it special means making decisions with both equitability and sustainability in mind,” Smyth said. “Every vote I take comes down to one question: does this make life better for the people who call Newport home?”
Smyth says she serves as council liaison to the Tree and Open Space, Energy and Environment, Waterfront and Miantonomi Park commissions, as well as the MLK Center, the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce, Newport Hospital, the Noreen Stoner Drexel Birthing Center Coalition and the Newport Prevention Coalition. She says she has sponsored resolutions creating the Accessibility Advisory Commission, the Ad Hoc Resilience and Sustainability Steering Committee, the Standing Charter Review Commission and the city’s first Youth Commission.
A Newport native and Rogers High School graduate, Smyth holds an MBA and a PhD. According to her announcement, her career includes work in tourism and hospitality, the Newport School Department and more than 15 years at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center. She is currently senior contracts administration management officer and workforce resolution facilitator at the Naval War College.
Smyth says she has served as a labor negotiator and union vice president for the National Association of Government Employees, NAGE SEIU, and is a union steward for the American Federation of Government Employees. She says she is a member of the NAACP Newport Chapter and Involve Newport, and has served on the 2022 Charter Review Commission, the Tree and Open Space Commission and the Affirmative Action Commission.
Smyth said affordability, infrastructure, environmental resilience and education will be central to her second-term priorities. More information is available at StephSmyth.com.
