A planned candidate forum for Warwick's Ward 1 City Council race has become a point of contention just weeks before Election Day. Incumbent William Foley and challenger Robert Cushman differed over their participation in the forum.
The candidates bring different kinds of local-government experience to the dispute. Cushman served on Warwick’s City Council in 2007 and 2008 and chaired the School Committee from 2003 to 2006; his campaign biography says he has continued to follow city and school budgets. That background puts his bid in the context of municipal oversight as well as the campaign’s immediate disagreement over whether voters would get a shared forum.
Three Candidates Were Set, Then None Showed
According to Warwick Online, three Ward 1 council candidates were originally confirmed to take part in a question-and-answer forum organized by the Warwick Beacon, a format designed around moderated questions rather than direct back-and-forth between candidates. The number of confirmed candidates later fell to one, per the same report.
Foley wrote that he could no longer attend because he wanted to prioritize individual conversations with voters through Election Day, the outlet reported. He framed his decision as a choice about how to best spend his remaining days on the trail.
Cushman Says He Rearranged His Schedule, Then Un-Rearranged It
Robert Cushman had notified forum organizers on October 15 that he intended to honor a prior commitment and skip the event, the Warwick Online report states. But Cushman said he later canceled that other event specifically so he could attend the forum after all.
The forum became a point of disagreement between Cushman and Foley.
Cushman is running as an independent and has made financial accountability a central campaign theme. His platform calls for greater transparency and scrutiny of city spending, while Foley is the sitting Ward 1 councilman and council president pro tempore. The candidates’ differing approaches to the forum—one emphasizing direct voter conversations, the other rearranging his schedule to attend—offer residents contrasting views of how candidates should make themselves available during a campaign.
Foley also said he wished Cushman had reached out earlier, noting that the original declaration date for the race would not have involved a primary, according to Warwick Online's account.
Doorsteps and Diners Instead of a Debate Stage
Rather than a stage, Foley's campaign has leaned on neighborhood door-knocking and conversations at local spots such as the Coffee Grinder and the Cozy Grill, the report noted.
What's Left Before Election Day
The race follows a 2024 election in which Foley faced no named opponent on the ballot: he received 4,354 votes, or 95.8%, while write-ins accounted for the remainder, in the state’s official Warwick results. This year’s general election is scheduled for November 3, 2026, and Warwick’s Board of Canvassers says early in-person voting runs October 14 through November 2. The forum dispute is unfolding while voters can already cast ballots early.
The forum dispute has become part of the Ward 1 campaign.
