Stephen P. Laffey (born 1962) is an American politician and businessman, who served as Mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island from 2003 to 2007. A member of the Republican Party, Laffey lost primary bids for the United States Senate from Rhode Island in 2006 and the House of Representatives from Colorado's 4th congressional district in 2014. A former executive of Morgan Keegan & Company, Laffey wrote the 2012 documentary Fixing America. In February 2023, Laffey announced he would seek the Republican nomination for the 2024 United States presidential election. Early life Laffey was born in 1962 in Warwick, Rhode Island to John and Mary Laffey. He grew up with four other siblings and at the age of four his family moved to Cranston. Laffey's childhood was less than perfect. His eldest brother died of AIDS and two other siblings suffered from schizophrenia. His father worked as a toolmaker and union steward at Armbrust Chain Company while his mother worked as a night nurse. Laffey attended Cranston East High School where he was described as an "assertive and aggressive student." He was co-captain of the basketball team and president of the student council. Education Laffey is credited as being the first person in his family to go to college. He decided to apply to Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine on the advice of his high school history teacher and was accepted with full scholarship. He attended Bowdoin from 1980–1984 where he majored in Economics. While at Bowdoin, Laffey began getting involved in politics. He co-founded the Bowdoin Patriot, the school's conservative newspaper, and was elected president of the student government. He also co-hosted the radio show "The Joe Show" on WBOR with his roommate Tom Marcelle. He was also credited as being responsible for a full-fledged conservative movement at the university. Upon graduating magna cum laude from Bowdoin in 1984, Laffey attended Harvard Business School. He received a full ride to Harvard from the George and Mary Knox Scholarship at Bowdoin. While at Harvard, he was published in the Wall Street Journal for an op-ed entitled What They Do Teach You at Harvard Biz. He graduated with an MBA from Harvard in 1986. Business career Laffey had a stated goal of becoming the president of a financial firm by the time he was 40 years old. In June 1992, he began working for Morgan Keegan & Company, a Tennessee-based brokerage firm with