Meet Gina
Gina with her older siblings, Tom and MarianneA lifelong Rhode Islander, Gina grew up in Smithfield in a tight-knit Italian American family, the youngest of Joseph and Josephine Raimondo’s three children.
Gina’s grandfather arrived in Rhode Island from Italy when he was 14 and learned English studying at the Providence Public Library. Her father Joseph, a World War II Navy veteran from a family of butchers, was the first in the family to attend college, then worked for 26 years at Bulova watch factory in Providence until the company moved his job overseas.
Growing up, Gina rode a RIPTA bus to school at La Salle Academy and spent weekends at her favorite beach, Sand Hill Cove — where she and her husband Andy now take their two kids Ceci, 13, and Tommy, 11.
Gina went on to attend Harvard, Oxford University, and Yale Law School. She knows that good things happen when hardworking students have access to the training and education needed to compete in today’s economy — which is why education and job training are top priorities in her administration.
Gina entered politics after more than a decade spent growing businesses. Her father’s experience getting laid off when his factory moved to China shaped her core belief that we need to make sure all Rhode Islanders who want to work hard can earn a good living.
As Rhode Island’s first female governor, Gina has made unmistakable progress to rebuild the middle class and create opportunity for everyone. Since she became governor, Rhode Island cut the state deficit while making significant investments in economic development, job training, infrastructure and education. Global businesses like General Electric and Johnson & Johnson are moving here, companies like Electric Boat and Virgin Pulse are expanding here and — for the first time in 30 years — Narragansett Beer is brewing here.
Under Gina’s leadership, Rhode Island has gone from the 36th worst state economy into the top 10 economies in America. We are now one of just five states to offer tuition-free access to community college and job training. As governor, Gina cut the tax on Social Security income for our seniors, cut the car tax, cut thousands of pages of regulations for small businesses and has repaired the most roads and bridges in a generation — creating good jobs in the process.