Frank T. Caprio Bio
Frank T. Caprio (born May 10, 1966) is an American banker, lawyer, and Democratic politician from Rhode Island whose career has spanned finance, law, and state government. He served as the 29th General Treasurer of Rhode Island from 2007 to 2011 and built a two-decade record in the state legislature, including terms in the Rhode Island House of Representatives and the Rhode Island Senate. Caprio is also recognized for pioneering multimedia political campaigning, being the first United States candidate to use on-demand television in a campaign and one of the first to launch a campaign internet television channel. Outside of public service, he is a managing director at Chatham Capital, a mezzanine finance firm with offices in Atlanta, Dallas, and Providence.
Early Life and Background
Frank T. Caprio is the eldest child of Joyce and Judge Frank Caprio, and he is the brother of Rhode Island State Representative David Caprio. His paternal grandfather had immigrated from Teano, Italy, and his father went on to become a judge. Caprio grew up in Narragansett, Rhode Island, where he attended public schools and graduated from Bishop Hendricken High School in 1984.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Harvard College in 1988, where his time on the playing fields was nearly as notable as his time in the classroom. While at Harvard, Caprio was captain of the Harvard baseball team and earned recognition as an All-Eastern League outfielder in 1988. He was also an All-Ivy League defensive back on the championship Harvard football team in 1987, once played against pitcher Roger Clemens in a 1987 exhibition game, and was scouted by Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams.
Caprio continued his education at Suffolk University Law School, where he earned a Juris Doctor in 1991. He subsequently passed the bar exams in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts, setting the stage for a legal career that overlapped with his early political work.
Path to US Politics
Caprio’s entry into public life began while he was still a senior at Harvard, when at the age of 21 he was elected a delegate from Rhode Island’s Second Congressional District and attended the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. In 1990, while still attending law school, he was elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives for District 14 in Providence. He served two terms as a state representative, commuting by train each morning to classes in Boston and each afternoon to legislative sessions in Providence.
After his two terms in the House, Caprio spent the next twelve years serving in the Rhode Island Senate. He chaired the Senate Finance Committee in 2001 and 2002, where he saved a five million dollar annual affordable housing program from being cut, then proposed expanding it to ten million dollars through an affordable housing bond. In 2006 he co-sponsored legislation to grow the bond into a fifty million dollar affordable housing fund, which was approved by voters that same year. He also chaired the Senate Commerce, Housing, and Municipal Government Committee starting in 2004, after Senate leadership had earlier removed him from the Finance chairmanship in 2002 over his outspoken advocacy of a Separation of Powers amendment.
Frank T. Caprio Career
Early Career (1988–2006)
As a practicing lawyer, Frank T. Caprio focused on corporate, tax, and finance issues and worked as in-house counsel at Cookson Group plc, a publicly traded company listed on the London Stock Exchange. He built his legal practice alongside his legislative work, combining his financial training with his growing presence in state government.
His legislative record during the 1990s and early 2000s included leading the debate on phasing out Rhode Island’s capital gains tax, a change that became law in 2007 and gave Rhode Island the lowest tax rate in the nation on stock and real estate profits. After some of the Senate leaders who had removed him from his chairmanship were themselves removed from office in 2003, the Separation of Powers amendment he had championed passed the legislature and became law following a statewide vote.
General Treasurer of Rhode Island Breakthrough (2006–2011)
On November 7, 2006, Frank T. Caprio, the endorsed candidate of the Democratic Party, was elected General Treasurer of Rhode Island with 73 percent of the vote, winning by a larger margin than any candidate for a contested statewide office on the 2006 Rhode Island ballot. He made Rhode Island history as the first candidate in the state to officially announce his candidacy through a multimedia broadcast that combined television, the web, on-demand cable, and radio. His campaign television documentary, Caprio, the Biography, was available for free viewing across Rhode Island on Cox Communications’ On-Demand service, and he launched one of the nation’s first campaign internet television channels, with both the website and his television ads earning awards.
Months before the subprime mortgage crisis took a toll on banks and public pension funds, Caprio moved to minimize the state’s exposure to asset-backed securities, expanded the competitive bidding process for the state’s bond transactions, and reduced exposure to firms such as Bear Stearns. He shifted one billion dollars from Quality D money market funds into Quality A institutional money market funds and moved roughly one hundred fifty million dollars in high-yield investments into safe Treasury bonds before the high-yield market declined. During his tenure the Rhode Island State Pension fund outperformed the Massachusetts and California state pension funds and the Harvard endowment, and a 2010 study by the Maryland Public Policy Institute found that Rhode Island’s pension plan under Caprio paid some of the lowest fees to outside money managers among all fifty states.
2010 Gubernatorial Run and 2014 Treasurer Primary
In 2010, Frank T. Caprio became the Democratic nominee for Governor of Rhode Island, running on a platform of advancing small business. After learning that President Barack Obama would not endorse him in the general election, Caprio said that Obama could take his endorsement and really shove it, and he ultimately lost to Independent candidate Lincoln Chafee, who won with 36 percent of the vote.
In May 2013, Caprio announced his intention to regain the General Treasurer’s post in the 2014 election. He lost the Democratic primary to first-time candidate Seth Magaziner in a landslide, 66.55 percent to 33.45 percent, and did not return to statewide office.
Notable Events and Milestones
Caprio’s signature political innovation was his pioneering use of on-demand television and a campaign internet television channel in 2006, which earned industry recognition and set a new template for reaching voters. His stewardship of the Rhode Island pension fund through the 2008 financial crisis, including the creation of a financial SWAT team of top state financial minds to protect against the collapse of AIG, became a defining chapter of his time as General Treasurer.
Frank T. Caprio Career Wins
Frank T. Caprio built a long record of electoral and policy victories across his two decades in Rhode Island politics, beginning with his early delegate work in 1988 and continuing through his 2006 election as the 29th General Treasurer of Rhode Island.
Statewide and Legislative Highlights
He was elected General Treasurer in 2006 with 73 percent of the vote, the largest margin for a contested statewide office on the 2006 Rhode Island ballot. Earlier in his career, he won two terms in the Rhode Island House of Representatives for District 14, beginning in 1990, and went on to win twelve years of service in the Rhode Island Senate, where he chaired both the Finance Committee and the Commerce, Housing, and Municipal Government Committee. His policy wins included saving and then expanding the state’s affordable housing program and helping pass the nation’s lowest capital gains tax rate in 2007.
Other Wins and Achievements
Beyond electoral success, Caprio was an All-Eastern League outfielder in 1988 and an All-Ivy League defensive back on the 1987 Harvard football championship team, achievements that highlighted his standing as a student-athlete. His campaign internet television channel and his on-demand television documentary both received industry awards, underscoring his reputation for innovation in political communications.
Frank T. Caprio Family
Family Background and Political Lineage
Frank T. Caprio is the eldest child of Judge Frank Caprio and Joyce Caprio, and he is the brother of Rhode Island State Representative David Caprio. His paternal grandfather had immigrated from Teano, Italy, giving the family deep Italian-American roots in Rhode Island and a multigenerational connection to public service.
Personal Life
Caprio built his career in Providence, Rhode Island, the state where he was born and raised, and he has remained closely tied to the region’s legal, financial, and political communities through his work as a lawyer, banker, and managing director at Chatham Capital.