Ed Lopez

He was the founder and state chairman of the Republican Hispanic Assembly of Rhode Island by late 1997. Lopez was a candidate for Rhode Island Secretary of State against incumbent James Langevin in the 1998 election cycle. Lopez was a Staff Assistant to United States Senators Hank Brown in Washington, D.C. and for John H. Chafee in his Providence, Rhode Island district office. In 2000, he received support from Republicans including Frederick Lippitt and Republican National Committeewoman for Rhode Island Eileen Slocum for a potential State Senate race in Rhode Island's 3rd District against State Senator Rhoda Perry. That same year, Lopez supported George W. Bush in the Republican presidential primary.

Lopez graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He pursued graduate studies at Durham University, in the United Kingdom, graduating with a master's degree in International Relations Middle East and Arabic language studies. Concurrent to military service in the United States Army he began PhD work, returning to Durham University and augmenting his Arabic language studies at American University in Cairo's Arabic Language Institute, in Cairo, Egypt. Lopez was a member of Ustinov College.

Lopez served as National Vice Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus from 2011 through 2015. Lopez served on Rockingham County Leadership Team for former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. for President in the 2012 Republican presidential primaries.

In March 2013, Lopez joined Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry along with S.E. Cupp, Abby Huntsman, Elizabeth Huntsman, Mary Anne Huntsman, Meghan McCain and other conservative and Republican activists.

In June 2013, Lopez joined the group on a nationwide campaign to change the Republican Party's platform points on the issue; the campaign included visits to New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina, and Nevada. Lopez was identified as a leader in the movement. Following an announcement of Republican support among state senators in Rhode Island, Lopez stated: "Rhode Island Republicans are leading the way to a more inclusive GOP — one that can continue to grow and stay relevant as America changes. Their actions today show that not only do they know the freedom to marry is completely in line with conservative values like personal liberty and the importance of family, they are working to make it a reality."

He was among a group of "Republican lawmakers, operatives and consultants" to file an amicus brief "at the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage." The brief was organized by former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman and included "Senators Susan Collins and Mark Kirk, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, retired General Stanley McChrystal and billionaire GOP mega-donor David Koch." On June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges meant that the Freedom to Marry's movement could be brought to a close.

Lopez said he supported former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson in the 2016 election during an interview with The Huffington Post in June 2016. During an interview on C-SPAN's Washington Journal, Lopez was asked whether he planned to remain a Republican and whether he felt Governors Gary Johnson and Bill Weld were sufficiently libertarian to which his response was: "I still believe in the Republican Party. I would like to see the Republican Party come out of this stronger. I'm not here to define how libertarian the Johnson-Weld ticket is or isn't; I understand Libertarians debate this robustly."