Michael “Lou” Riley
“Leave it better than the way I found it.”
Third-generation Scituate. Real estate attorney. Father of four. Running for State Representative to keep zoning, schools, and taxes in the hands of the people who actually live here — Scituate and western Cranston.
Questions? Call 401-647-6990 or email TEAM@RileyforRI.com
Four things I’m running on
The same four priorities that are on the card I hand you at the door. Nothing on this list is a national talking point. All four land on Scituate and western Cranston directly.
Plank One
Don’t Providence My Scituate
Local Control · Zoning & Land Use
Zoning, land use, and development decisions belong to the people who live here. Scituate is the only town in Rhode Island without a home rule charter, which means the General Assembly is effectively our charter. I’ll fight state mandates that treat a rural town like a city block.
Read my position →Plank Two
Our Schools, Our Call
Education · Local Boards & Parents
Elected local school committees and the parents who show up to their meetings should be making the calls about our kids — curriculum, budget, and the day-to-day. My job at the State House is to defend that authority and to fight for a funding formula that doesn’t punish a small rural district.
Read my position →Plank Three
Cut the Tax Burden
Affordability · What It Costs to Stay
The conveyance tax, the estate tax, and the new non-owner-occupied surcharge all landed on Rhode Island families in the last two years. I read these on settlement statements every week. I’ll work to roll them back.
Read my position →Plank Four
Keep Our Doctors
Access to Care
We can’t keep the physicians we have or attract the ones we need. I’ll work on reimbursement, licensing, and the cost of practicing here. In a district where the nearest hospital is a drive, this is not an abstraction.
Read my position →Second Amendment
Rhode Islanders have a constitutional right to keep and bear arms. I’ll stand against restrictions that burden law-abiding sportsmen, hunters, and homeowners instead of targeting actual criminals.
Read my position →Veterans & Constituent Service
Every constituent deserves a Representative who answers the phone and follows through. That includes the veterans in this district, who have earned better than a voicemail box.
Read my position →
Testifying on 2026-S 3136 — an act relating to real estate brokers and salespersons. Before I ever ran for anything.
I’m not starting at first base. I’m rounding third.
Most first-time candidates arrive at the State House and spend a year figuring out how the building works. I’ve already been in the room. I’ve advocated for legislation that helps our community, our district, and our state — on my own time, as a working attorney, with no title next to my name.
I read bills for a living. I know how one gets submitted, heard, amended, and passed — and I know how the real change often shows up on page 12, after everybody has stopped reading.
A neighbor before he was a candidate
Lou is a third-generation resident of Scituate and a real estate attorney licensed in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Florida. He and Melissa made a deliberate choice to come home to Scituate and raise the next generation in the same town that raised him.
His practice — real estate transactions, zoning and land use, tax sale law, and foreclosure — puts him on the front lines of the issues District 41 families face every day. When the State House changes a tax or a land use rule, he sees the consequence at a closing table weeks later.
Meet Lou →Three ways to vote
Every voter in District 41 has three options. Pick whichever one you’ll actually follow through on — they all count exactly the same.
Vote by mail
Request a mail ballot, fill it out at your kitchen table, and send it back. You have to apply first — the application deadline is well before Election Day, and it is the one that catches people out.
Vote early, in person
Rhode Island holds an early in-person voting period at your local board of canvassers before Election Day. No excuse or reason required. Shorter lines, and you get it done.
Vote on Election Day
Tuesday, November 3, 2026, at your regular polling place. Bring photo ID.
“My family has been part of Scituate for three generations. My commitment to the district is simple: leave it better than the way I found it.”
— Michael “Lou” Riley
The campaign lives on Facebook
This website covers where Lou stands. Facebook is where the day-to-day happens — town events, State House updates, and where he’ll be this weekend. It’s updated constantly, and it’s the fastest way to reach him directly.