Democratic Socialist Wins Mayoral Primary In State’s Largest City

12 News projects David Morales as the winner of the Democratic primary for Providence mayor. He will face Republican David Talan in the Nov. 3 general election. See more results: https://t.co/QcsKrmmE7b pic.twitter.com/DLWUsw5Bk2

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The primary results in Rhode Island mark another win for the Democratic Party’s left flank, which has picked up key victories in local, House and Senate races across the country this year.

Morales, 27, is almost certain to win the general election in November for the solid blue seat.

Smiley, 47, was first elected as Providence’s mayor in 2022. He previously served as former Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo’s (D) chief of staff before becoming the state’s Department of Administration director.

Smily notched support from Raimondo, who served as Commerce secretary under former President Biden, as well as former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Morales, meanwhile, was backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.)

Morales is set to join a growing class of democratic socialist mayors across the country, most notably New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

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NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani is seizing on a 27-year-old democratic socialist's upset victory in Providence to make a broader case: the Democratic Party's future runs through rent control and housing affordability.

Mamdani pointed to David Morales' primary defeat of incumbent…

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If he wins, Morales, at 27, will be the youngest mayor Providence has ever had.

“Few believed that a 27-year-old democratic socialist could ever, few believed that we could ever take on big money, corporate real estate interests and endless attack ads – and we took them on and we won,” Morales said in his victory speech, which he delivered partly in Spanish.

“The same way that we campaigned, we are going to govern – in coalition, side by side with our neighbors,” he added.

Morales ran on a progressive platform pledging sweeping changes including capping annual rent hikes, building more affordable housing and raising taxes on corporate polluters and landlords.

Rent stabilization was a key factor in the race, with Smiley, now ousted after one term, having vetoed a rent-stabilization ordinance back in April that had been passed by the city council.

“When working people are getting priced out of the city that they love, then we must cap rent increases at 4% every single year,” Morales said. “We put housing justice on the ballot.”

Morales, the son of a Mexican immigrant single mother, also took a hardline stance on making Providence an official sanctuary city and standing up to Donald Trump’s aggressive anti-immigrant agenda.

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