Providence Firefighter Cameron Moquin Makes His Case for State Senate District 5

​A 13-year veteran of the Providence Fire Department is stepping into the political arena, and he's bringing firsthand experience of Rhode Island's healthcare crisis with him. Cameron Moquin, currently serving as Acting Captain of Rescue One, is running as a Democrat for State Senate District 5—a seat that covers Federal Hill, parts of the West End, Valley, Elmhurst, and Mount Pleasant.
Moquin sat down with the Rhode Island Wave as part of our ongoing Spotlight interview series to talk about his candidacy, his vision for the district, and the healthcare plan he believes can change Rhode Island for the better.
From the Firehouse to the State House
This isn't Moquin's first foray into politics. He ran for federal office in 2022, describing the experience as something of a "practice run." Armed with a political science degree and years of experience on the front lines of public service, he waited for the right opportunity—and says this is it.
"I just waited until the time came that somebody asked me to run," Moquin said, "and this was the year that happened."
He lives on Westminster Street, squarely within the district he hopes to represent. For Moquin, that matters. "It's my neighborhood," he said. "I'm going to be representing my neighborhood up at the State House."
A Coalition Builder, Not an Ideologue
Moquin describes himself as a coalition builder—someone who counts friends across the ideological spectrum and focuses less on political identity than on getting things done.
"I don't consider myself an ideologue," he explained. "I tend to view things as: how do we get something accomplished that we need?"
That pragmatic outlook, he says, is exactly what District 5 needs right now. With the affordability crisis squeezing Rhode Island families from every direction, Moquin believes the State Senate should be focused on reducing out-of-pocket costs and leveling out an economy that isn't working for everyone.
He also sees the Senate's role as a stabilizing force in the legislature. "The two bodies working together—or against each other—help keep things from going wildly out of control when changes are being made," he said with a smile.
Healthcare Reform, Built from the Street Up
Of all the issues Moquin wants to tackle, healthcare sits at the top of the list—and his perspective is shaped by something few legislators can claim: he has seen the system fail people in real time, from the inside.
As Acting Captain of Rescue One, Moquin works primarily on the ambulance. He's been in people's homes on the worst days of their lives—restarting hearts, reviving overdoses, carrying patients down narrow staircases.
"I find that the reasons why people are running into these emergency situations is because they haven't often been able to maintain a basic level of primary care," he said. "If they're not able to catch up with their own health problems, they tend to become emergencies."
That observation is the foundation of his healthcare platform. Rather than pushing for immediate universal coverage—which he argues Rhode Island's current infrastructure simply cannot support—Moquin proposes a phased approach he calls the Rhode Island Health Trust Act.
The plan begins with a Payer Mandate, requiring insurers operating in Rhode Island to pay providers at a regional benchmark rate—the median of what Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut currently pay—in full and on time. The goal is to stop the exodus of physicians leaving for better-paying states, and to rebuild the medical capacity that a universal system would eventually require.
"Insurers currently pay our doctors about 30 percent less than Massachusetts does," Moquin notes on his website, cameronmoquin.com. "The Payer Mandate ends that."
The second pillar is the Trust itself—not a government-run insurance plan, but a safety net that activates when a private insurer fails or exits the market. Crucially, Moquin argues the plan requires no new taxes and no federal waivers. It is funded by assessments on the insurance industry and the premiums of members it takes on.
"Right now, if we were to drop universal health care on the state as it is today, it would just break instantly," Moquin said. "There isn't an infrastructure that can handle it. So we need to repair the infrastructure first."
His plan has already earned the endorsement of the Providence Fire Fighters, IAFF Local 799.
The Primary is the Election
For voters in District 5, September 9th is the date that matters. The Democratic primary is, for all practical purposes, the general election in this district.
Moquin is asking residents of Westminster Street, Valley Street, Mount Pleasant, and Academy Avenue—among others—to look him up and give him their vote.
"He's got ideas for all of us," said Deana, the Rhode Island Wave's host who conducted the interview. "But he cannot implement those ideas unless the people in his district vote for him."
For more on Cameron Moquin's platform and healthcare plan, visit cameronmoquin.com.