PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A ceremonial inauguration is being held for Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee on Sunday on the Statehouse steps in Providence.
The Democrat was sworn-in Tuesday night in a private Statehouse event following the resignation of former Gov. Gina Raimondo, who is now President Joe Biden’s commerce secretary.
McKee is serving out the remainder of Raimondo’s four-year term but has said he’ll run for governor outright in 2022. The 69-year-old served as the state’s lieutenant governor and is a former longtime mayor of Cumberland.
During Sunday’s noontime ceremony, Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea will swear in McKee using his family’s Bible. First Lady Susan McKee and the couple’s two grown children will join them for the ceremony.
Kara McKee, their daughter, is slated to perform the national anthem, and a Rhode Island National Guard quartet will perform “Stars and Stripes Forever.”
The governor will also deliver a brief inauguration address.
Other speakers include Tina Cane, the state’s poet laureate; Dr. Christopher Abhulime, pastor at King’s Tabernacle Church in Johnston; and Father Robert Marciano, president of Bishop Hendricken High School in Warwick.
Only members of the public who received an invitation will be able to sit in the socially-distanced seating area. They’ll also be required to undergo COVID-19 screenings and wear masks.
The ceremony will air on Capitol Television and online at the state legislature’s website and the governor’s Facebook page.
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