Michael W. Chippendale (R) was elected by the House Minority Caucus in June 2022 to serve as the Minority Leader. He was the Minority Whip, the second-ranking position in the caucus, since November 2018. He has served the residents of District 40 (Coventry, Foster, Glocester) since first being elected in November 2010. As the Minority Leader, he is an ex-officio member of all House committees.
Before being elected, Leader Chippendale owned and operated a custom manufacturing business. He served as a lector and is a former religious education instructor at St. Paul the Apostle Church. He coached youth baseball for 15 seasons in Foster, Glocester and Scituate, was a board member of the Foster/Glocester Juvenile Hearing Board for 14 years and is a 30-year member of the Highland Rod and Gun Sportsman Club.
As a life-long Rhode Islander, Leader Chippendale graduated from Johnston High School, studied at CCRI, , then entered the Electro-Mechanical Drafting/Engineering Program at New England Institute of Technology, receiving his degree in 1989. Mike re-entered college in 2004 at Johnson and Wales University, studying business management.
Leader Chippendale is a self-employed manufacturing and design consultant. Born April 25, 1969, he resides in Foster with his wife of over 25 years, Sherri, and together they have two adult children, Paige, a registered nurse, and Séighín, a licensed heavy equipment operating engineer.
