Elections are held in

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in some religions * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

to elect the city's mayor. Such elections are regularly scheduled to be held in

United States midterm election Midterm elections in the United States are the Elections in the United States, general elections that are held near the midpoint of a President of the United States, president's four-year term of office, on Election Day (United States), Electi ...

years.

Elections before 1998

1998

The 1998 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 3, 1998. It saw the reelection of

Buddy Cianci Vincent Albert "Buddy" Cianci Jr. (, ; ; April 30, 1941 – January 28, 2016) was an American politician, attorney, radio talk show host, and political commentator who served as the mayor of Providence, Rhode Island from 1975 to 1984 and again f ...

to sixth overall, and third consecutive, term. Cianci ran unchallenged.

2002

The 2002 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 5, 2002. It saw the election of Democratic nominee

David Cicilline David Nicola Cicilline ( ; born July 15, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 36th mayor of Providence from 2003 to 2011, the fi ...

in a

landslide victory A landslide victory is an election result in which the winning Candidate#Candidates in elections, candidate or political party, party achieves a decisive victory by an overwhelming margin, securing a very large majority of votes or seats far beyo ...

. Cicilline was openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

. After Cicilline took office, Providence became largest city in the United States at the time to have had an openly

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

mayor (a distinction which had, beforehand, belonged to

Tempe, Arizona Tempe ( ; ''Oidbaḍ'' in O'odham language, O'odham) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2020 population of 180,587. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in t ...

since its election of

Neil Giuliano Neil Gerard Giuliano (born October 26, 1956) is an American politician who served as mayor of Tempe, Arizona for four terms, from 1994 to 2004 (Three two-year terms and one four-year term). After serving in elected office he served as president of ...

Democratic primary

The Democratic Party held its

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

on September 10, 2002.

Candidates

, member of the

Rhode Island House of Representatives The Rhode Island House of Representatives is the lower house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the upper house being the Rhode Island Senate. It is ...

since 1995 *David V. Igliozzi, Rhode Island state senator and former Providence city councilor *Kevin McKenna, attorney * Joseph R. Paolino Jr., former mayor of Providence (1984–1991) and former

United States ambassador to Malta This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Malta. Initially a part of the British Empire, Malta was granted full independence as the State of Malta on September 21, 1964. The United States recognized the new nation and established fu ...

(1994–1996) Withdrew *Thomas O'Connor

Polls

Campaigning

David Ciciline and Kevin McKenna launched their campaigns prior to the June conviction of incumbent mayor

, and criticized the disgraced mayor. Paolino and Igliozzi launched their candidacies after Cianci's conviction, and did not openly criticize Cianci. Igliozzi had once worked in the city's solicitor's office during Cianci's mayoralty. Paloino pledged to revitalize blighted areas of the city by cleaning up their parks and schools, and by increasing community

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

officers. Ciciline also advocated for the arts, and proposed making gallery and studio space available to more residents. While Ciciline was openly gay, Paolino sought to challenge him for support of the city's gay voters.

Results

General election

Candidates

(Democrat), member of the

since 1995 *Greg Gerritt (

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

) *David Talin ( Republican) *Christopher Young (independent) Withdrew *Pat Cortelessa (independent) *Robert Farrow (independent)

Campaigning

It was anticipated that the winner of the Democratic Party primary would be the race's

frontrunner ''FrontRunner'' is a Commuter rail in North America, commuter railway operated by the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) that runs along the Wasatch Front in north-central Utah with service from Ogden Central station in central Weber County, Utah, ...

in the strongly Democratic city's mayoral race. The sexuality of Cecilline, vying to become the city's first openly

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

mayor, was not a prominent issue in the campaign. Some in the gay community even criticized Cecilline, accusing him of downplaying his sexuality in order to appeal more broadly to voters.

Polls

Throughout the campaign, Cecilline was a strong leader in polls.

Results

2006

The 2006 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 7, 2006. It saw the reelection of

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Democratic primary

The Democratic Party's

was held on September 12, 2006.

Candidates

, incumbent mayor since 2003 *Christopher F. Young,

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates are most common where there is no limit on the number of times that a person can run for office and little cost ...

(including as the

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

nominee for United States Senate in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and as a candidate for mayor in 2002)

Results

General election

Cicilline faced Republican nominee Daniel S. Harrop III, who had previously run for state house in 2002 as a

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

and in 2004 as a Republican.

2010

The 2010 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 2, 2010. The election saw the election of

Angel Taveras Angel Taveras (born August 18, 1970) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 37th mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, from 2011 to 2015. Taveras was the first Hispanic mayor of the city and the third elected and fourth serving Domi ...

. Taveras became the first Hispanic mayor of the city and the third elected and fourth serving

Dominican-American Dominican Americans (, ) are Americans who trace their ancestry to the Dominican Republic. The phrase may refer to someone born in the United States of Dominican descent or to someone who has migrated to the United States from the Dominican R ...

mayor in the United States. Incumbent

did not seek reelection, instead opting to run in the coinciding election for Rhode Island's 1st congressional district. Cicilline was eligible to seek reelection to a third consecutive term as mayor, as term limits passed in 2006 (which limited mayors to two consecutive terms) would not go into effect until the following year.

Democratic primary

Results

General election

Results

2014

The 2014 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 4, 2014. The election saw the election of

Jorge Elorza Jorge O. Elorza (born November 24, 1976) is an American law professor who served as the mayor of Providence, Rhode Island from 2015 until 2023. He defeated former mayor Buddy Cianci in the 2014 mayoral election and on January 5, 2015, was sworn ...

. Incumbent

did not seek reelection, and instead (unsuccessfully) sought the Democratic nomination in the coinciding Rhode Island gubernatorial election.

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary was held on September 9, 2014.

Results

Despite still appearing on the ballot, Brett Smiley had withdrawn and endorsed Elorza before the primary was held.

General election

The election pinned Democratic primary winner Jorge Elorza against former mayor Buddy Cianci, who was running as an independent, and Republican Daniel S. Harrop. Elorza was endorsed by United States President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. On July 14, 2014, businessman Lorne Adrian withdrew his independent candidacy. Independent candidate Jeffrey E. Lemire failed to get his name on the ballot. Cianci had previously served as mayor 1975–84 and 1991–2002, each time being ousted due to criminal convictions. A prominent issue was made of his past convictions. Ciacni characterized Elorza as inexperienced, and called a possible return to the mayoralty for a third tenure as a "last rodeo" for himself.

Results

2018

The 2018 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 6, 2018. The election saw the reelection of

Democratic primary

On September 12, 2018, incumbent mayor Jorge Elorza won renomination by the Democratic Party, defeating challengers Kobi Dennis and Robert DeRobbio. Elorza had been endorsed by the party organization ahead of the primary.

Polls

Results

General election

Results

2022

The 2022 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 8, 2022. Since Providence limits mayors to two consecutive terms, incumbent mayor

, a

, was

term-limited A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, whe ...

and thus could not run for reelection to a third consecutive term in office.

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Brett Smiley, former Rhode Island director of administration and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

mayoral candidate

=Eliminated in primary

= *Gonzalo Cuervo, former deputy secretary of state and former chief of staff to

Secretary of State of Rhode Island The secretary of state of Rhode Island is an elected office in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of 2023, the current secretary of state is Gregg Amore. Powers and duties The Rhode Island Department of State or is composed of five separate ...

Nellie Gorbea Nellie M. Gorbea (born July 12, 1967) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she had served as the Secretary of State of Rhode Island from 2015 to 2023. Early life and education Gorbea was born and raised in Puerto Rico. ...

*Nirva LaFortune, Providence city councilor

=Withdrew

= *Michael Solomon, former Providence City Council president and 2014 mayoral candidate ''(endorsed Smiley)''

=Declined

= *Lorne Adrian, businessman and 2014 independent mayoral candidate *Dylan Conley, candidate for United States House of Representatives in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

*Kobi Dennis,

community activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

and 2018 mayoral candidate *

Grace Diaz Grace Diaz (born February 21, 1957) is an American politician who is a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic State Representative from Rhode Island representing District 11 in the city of Providence, Rhode Island. She was the first Dominica ...

, Rhode Island state representative ''(endorsed Cuervo)'' *

Raymond Hull Raymond Hull (27 February 1919 – 7 June 1985) was an England-born Canadians, Canadian playwright, television screenwriter, and lecturer. He also wrote many non-fiction books, numerous magazine articles, short stories, and poetry. He is best kno ...

, Rhode Island state representative *John Igliozzi, Providence City Council president * John J. Lombardi, Rhode Island state representative, former acting mayor, and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

mayoral candidate *David Salvatore, city councilor

Endorsements

Results

External links

Official campaign websites
Gonzalo Cuervo (D) for Mayor

Nirva LaFortune (D) for Mayor

Brett Smiley (D) for Mayor

General election

Results

References

{{reflist

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

Government of Providence, Rhode Island History of Providence, Rhode Island Providence Mayor