Rhode Island
First.
You're paying $3.32 a gallon at the pump. $4.41 a gallon to heat your home. $1,800 a month for a one-bedroom apartment. Your kids are working two jobs and still can't afford to stay. This is Rhode Island in 2026.
It is time to put Rhode Island First again.
"I have the courage to say what everybody else is thinking and to do what needs to get done for Rhode Island families."
— Victor "Vic" G. Mellor, U.S. Marine Veteran & Candidate for Congress
This Isn't Abstract. This Is Your Life.
These aren't statistics. They're the reason you're stressed on Sunday night. The reason your kid moved away. The reason you're working harder than ever and falling further behind. Rhode Island's leaders have failed you — and nobody in Washington has been fighting to fix it.
You're paying more than almost anyone in America just to get to work.
You pull up to the pump, watch the numbers spin, and do the math in your head. $3.32 a gallon. A full tank is $65, $70, maybe more. The guy filling up in Kansas is paying $2.92. The difference isn't the oil. It's the policy. Rhode Island's gas tax is 40 cents per gallon — one of the highest in the nation — and nobody in Washington is fighting to change it.
This February, one heating oil delivery cost Rhode Island families $106 more than it had two weeks earlier.
It's January. The pipes are cold. You call the oil company and they tell you it's $4.41 a gallon — and the truck might not come for three days. 150 gallons: $661. That's a car payment. That's groceries for a month. Nearly 30% of Rhode Island households heat with oil — nearly four times the national rate. You didn't choose this dependency. The state's energy policy made that choice for you.
Rhode Islanders pay nearly double the national average just to keep the lights on.
The average Rhode Island household pays $161 a month for electricity — before the new rate increases Rhode Island Energy proposed in late 2025. At 31 cents per kilowatt-hour, you're paying nearly twice what families in most of the country pay. Carbon taxes and energy mandates didn't make your home greener. They just made it more expensive to live in.
A one-bedroom apartment in Rhode Island now costs $1,800 a month. A two-bedroom is $2,228.
You work full time. Maybe two jobs. And every month you write a check that takes more than half your paycheck. Your parents bought their house for $80,000. The same house is $490,000 today. You've done everything right — and the American Dream has been priced out of reach by a state government that has failed to build, failed to permit, and failed to plan. Young Rhode Islanders aren't lazy. They're leaving because they literally cannot afford to stay.
Your brother has been looking for a decent-paying job for four months. He is not alone.
Rhode Island's unemployment is rising faster than any other state in New England. The real underemployment rate — people who've given up, who are working part-time when they need full-time, who are overqualified for what they can find — sits at 8.6%. Your kid is working two minimum-wage jobs just to cover rent and groceries. They had plans. They had ambition. The state just didn't have the jobs. So they're thinking about leaving. And who can blame them?
A fourth-generation Rhode Islander wrote in the Boston Globe: "I'm leaving." Thousands more are making the same decision every year.
The people who built this state — who went to school here, raised families here, paid taxes here for decades — are watching their children leave. Not because they want to. Because the cost of staying has become impossible. A lagging economy, impossible housing costs, and a government that has never once put Rhode Island first. That ends in 2026.
"You're not imagining it. You're not bad with money. You're not lazy. The system is broken — and it has been broken for a long time."— Vic Mellor
You Know This Feeling. We All Do.
This is what failed policy looks like at the kitchen table. At the gas pump. In the middle of the night when you're staring at the ceiling wondering how you're going to make it work. These aren't hypotheticals. This is Rhode Island in 2026.
The Gas Station
It's 7:15 in the morning. You're already running late. You pull into the station on your way to work, glance at the price sign — $3.32 — and feel that familiar knot in your stomach. You put in $40 and barely get half a tank. You do the math: two fill-ups a week. That's $320 a month just to get to work and back.
Rhode Island's gas tax is 40 cents per gallon — among the highest in the nation. Combined with the state's energy policies, Rhode Islanders are paying 40 cents more per gallon than drivers in Kansas right now. That's not a market problem. That's a policy problem. And it's one that a representative who actually fights for Rhode Island can fix.
The January Heating Bill
The oil gauge is in the red. You've been putting off the call because you know what it's going to cost. You dial the number. $4.41 a gallon. You need 150 gallons. The woman on the phone says the earliest they can come is Thursday — three days from now. You do the math: $661. You look at your checking account. You look at the kids.
This February, heating oil prices in Rhode Island jumped 71 cents per gallon in just two weeks — adding $106 to a single delivery. Nearly 30% of Rhode Island households heat with oil, almost four times the national rate. This isn't bad luck. It's the direct result of energy policies that have made Rhode Island one of the most expensive states in the nation to heat a home.
The First of the Month
It's the first of the month. You open your banking app and transfer $1,800 to your landlord. That's for a one-bedroom. You're 27 years old. You work full time. You have a degree. And after rent, groceries, utilities, and your car payment, there is almost nothing left. You think about your parents, who bought their house for $80,000. The same house is $490,000 today. You wonder if you'll ever own anything.
Rhode Island has the worst homebuilding and affordability record in the nation. There are no affordable municipalities left in the state. The median home price has surpassed $490,000 — up 4.8% in just one year. Average rent for a one-bedroom is $1,800 per month. Young Rhode Islanders are not failing. They are being failed — by decades of overregulation, slow permitting, and a government that has never prioritized building homes for working families.
The Job Search
Your son graduated two years ago. He's smart, hardworking, and has sent out over 80 applications. He's had a few interviews. Nothing has come through — not at a wage that would let him afford to live here. He's working two part-time jobs right now. He's talking about moving to Texas, or North Carolina, or anywhere that has jobs and a cost of living that makes sense. You want to tell him to stay. You don't know what to say.
Rhode Island's real underemployment rate — which counts people who've given up looking, or who are working part-time when they need full-time — is 8.6%. Unemployment is rising faster than any other state in New England. A URI economist declared Rhode Island entered a recession in late 2024. The Boston Globe ran an op-ed from a fourth-generation Rhode Islander explaining why they're leaving. This is what policy failure looks like at the kitchen table.
"I left Rhode Island because I had to. I'm coming back because I refuse to watch this state keep failing the people who built it."
— Vic MellorThe Numbers Behind the Pain
Every number below is verified from federal and state sources. Every number represents a real Rhode Islander who deserves better.
You pay nearly twice what families in most states pay. That's not the market. That's the policy.
Source: EIA, Oct 2025 — national average is 18¢/kWh
Your parents bought theirs for $80K. Your kids can't afford to stay. No affordable municipalities remain.
Source: RI Real Estate Market Data, 2025 — up 4.8% year-over-year
Someone's son. Someone's mother. Someone's neighbor. Every single town in Rhode Island has been touched.
Source: Prevent Overdose RI, 2024 Annual Report
The jobs that could exist here don't. The businesses that could hire here won't. That's why your kids are leaving.
Source: CNBC America's Top States for Business, July 2025
What Rhode Island First Means
Five urgent priorities. One mission: put Rhode Islanders first in every decision made in Washington.
Energy & Affordability
Stop robbing Rhode Island families at the pump and the meter
You're paying $3.32 a gallon to fill your car. You're paying $4.41 a gallon to heat your home. Your electric bill is $161 a month — and Rhode Island Energy just asked for another rate increase. This isn't an accident. Mandatory biofuel blending mandates, carbon taxes, and anti-fossil fuel ideology have made Rhode Island one of the most expensive states in the nation to simply exist. At 31¢/kWh, you're paying nearly twice what families in most of the country pay. The ideology is costing you hundreds of dollars every single month.
Vic will fight to repeal costly energy mandates, oppose carbon taxes, and champion energy policies that put families first — not radical green agendas. Rhode Islanders deserve affordable energy, not an ideological experiment paid for out of their wallets.
Housing & Cost of Living
Your kids can't afford to stay. That is a policy failure.
A one-bedroom apartment in Rhode Island costs $1,800 a month. A two-bedroom is $2,228. The median home price has surpassed $490,000 — up 4.8% in just one year. There are no affordable municipalities left in the entire state. Your children did everything right — they worked hard, they got their education, they stayed — and they still can't afford a home in the place they grew up. That is not a personal failure. That is what happens when a government overregulates, under-builds, and never once puts working families first.
Vic will fight to cut the regulatory red tape strangling homebuilding, bring federal resources to address Rhode Island's housing shortage, and make the state affordable again — so Rhode Island's kids have a reason to stay.
Jobs & Economic Revival
Your brother has been looking for four months. He is not alone.
Rhode Island's real underemployment rate is 8.6% — people who've stopped looking, who are working part-time when they need full-time, who are overqualified for what they can find. Unemployment is rising faster than any other state in New England. A URI economist declared Rhode Island entered a recession in late 2024. CNBC ranked Rhode Island 46th worst state for business in 2025. The businesses that could be hiring are leaving. The jobs that could be created aren't being created. And the people who need them are working two minimum-wage jobs just to survive.
Vic will fight for lower taxes, less regulation, and federal investment that brings real jobs — not government dependency — back to Rhode Island. For 30 years he built businesses and created jobs. He knows what it takes.
Addiction & Recovery
329 Rhode Islanders died from overdoses in 2024. Every town. Every family.
Fentanyl-related deaths in Rhode Island have increased nearly 30-fold since 2009. Every single town in this state has been touched by this epidemic. Vic Mellor has lived this crisis personally — he knows what it means to fight your way out, and he knows what it means to watch people you love lose that fight. This is not a statistic. This is someone's son. Someone's mother. Someone's neighbor. Rhode Island deserves a representative who will fight this epidemic like it is the emergency it is.
Vic will fight for real investment in addiction treatment, recovery infrastructure, and border security to stop the flow of fentanyl into our communities. He has lived this. He will not look away.
Healthcare Freedom
The infrastructure is there. The access isn't. That is the failure.
Rhode Island has hospitals, clinics, and medical professionals. The infrastructure exists. But for working families, healthcare is expensive, inaccessible, and increasingly controlled by bureaucrats rather than patients and doctors. You wait months for an appointment. You pay thousands in deductibles before your insurance covers anything. You make decisions about your family's health based on what you can afford — not what you need. Vic founded We The People Health & Wellness Center because he believes healthcare should serve people, not systems.
Vic will fight for medical freedom, parental rights in healthcare decisions, and policies that expand access and drive down costs — not government mandates that make the system more expensive and less responsive to the people it's supposed to serve.
Victor "Vic" G. Mellor
"Builder of Freedom. Fighter for Rhode Island."
A Marine. A Builder. A Rhode Islander.
Victor "Vic" G. Mellor is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who has spent over 30 years building businesses and supporting working-class families. He is not a career politician — he is a man who has lived the American Dream and wants to make it possible for every Rhode Islander.
He Knows This Crisis Personally.
Vic Mellor has lived the struggles that Rhode Island families face today. He has seen the drug epidemic claim lives in his own community. He understands what it means to have to leave your home state to find opportunity and success — because he had to do it himself.
That is why he is coming home. Not to run from the problem, but to fight it head-on in Washington, D.C.
This Campaign Is About Protecting What Matters.
This campaign is not about party bosses, global interests, or the radical fringe. It is about protecting what matters: the working families of Rhode Island. Vic founded We The People Health & Wellness Center because he believes in genuine care, real choice, and the dignity of every person.
"For over 30 years, I have been employing and supporting working families. Now I am going to continue to serve, ready to fight, and ready to rebuild Rhode Island — with courage, clarity, and zero apologies."
— Vic Mellor
The Ocean State
Rhode Island First
Morning Is Coming
to Rhode Island.
Rhode Island First is not just a campaign slogan. It is a declaration that the people of this state — the working families, the small business owners, the parents, the veterans — deserve a representative in Washington who puts them first. Every single time.
For too long, Rhode Island has been an afterthought in Washington. Our energy bills are among the highest in the nation. Our young people are leaving. Our businesses are closing. Our families are struggling.
That ends in 2026. Join the movement. Put Rhode Island First.
Restoring Economic Sovereignty — ending the policies that are crushing the working class and bringing federal resources and jobs back to Rhode Island.
Defending Constitutional Rights — standing firm for free speech, medical freedom, parental rights, and the Second Amendment.
Restoring Trust — rebuilding a system where work pays, trades thrive, and personal responsibility is valued over dependency.
Rhode Island Is Worth
Fighting For.
The movement starts with you. Every volunteer, every donation, every conversation you have with a neighbor moves Rhode Island one step closer to the morning it deserves.
Volunteer
Join the ground team. Knock doors, make calls, and help spread the Rhode Island First message across the state.
Donate
Fund the fight. Every dollar goes toward putting Rhode Island First — not party bosses, not special interests.
Spread the Word
Share the Rhode Island First message with your family, friends, and neighbors. The movement grows one conversation at a time.
"This campaign isn't about party bosses, global interests, or the radical fringe. This campaign is about protecting what matters."
— Vic Mellor
Visit VicMellor.com — Join the Fight