Elections are held in Providence,

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but i ...

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 general elections that are held near the midpoint of a president's four-year term of office, on Election Day on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Federal offices that are up f ...

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, political commentator, and convicted felon who served as the mayor of Providence, Rhode Island from 1975 ...

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 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 (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

nominee

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

in a

landslide victory A landslide victory is an election result in which the victorious candidate or party wins by an overwhelming margin. The term became popular in the 1800s to describe a victory in which the opposition is "buried", similar to the way in which a geol ...

. 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 ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...

mayor (a distinction which had, beforehand, belonged to

Tempe, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Vale of Tempe , image_skyline = Tempeskyline3.jpg , imagesize = 260px , image_caption = Tempe skyline as s ...

since its election of

Neil Giuliano Neil G. 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 the ...

Democratic primary

The

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

held its

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

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 of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the upper house being the Rhode Island Senate. It is composed of 75 members, elected ...

since 1995 * 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) *David V. Igliozzi,

Rhode Island state senator The Rhode Island Senate is the upper house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the lower house being the Rhode Island House of Representatives. It is composed of 38 Senators, each o ...

and former Providence city councilor *Kevin McKenna,

attorney Attorney may refer to: * Lawyer ** Attorney at law, in some jurisdictions * Attorney, one who has power of attorney * ''The Attorney'', a 2013 South Korean film See also * Attorney general, the principal legal officer of (or advisor to) a gove ...

;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 a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest a ...

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 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

) *David Talin (

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...

) *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 races

frontrunner FrontRunner is a commuter rail train operated by the Utah Transit Authority that operates along the Wasatch Front in north-central Utah with service from the Ogden Intermodal Transit Center in central Weber County through Davis County, Salt ...

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 members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

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, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-el ...

Democrat

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' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

(including as the Reform nominee for United States Senate in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

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 french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

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 Domini ...

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

Dominican-American Dominican Americans ( es, domínico-americanos, ) are Americans who trace their ancestry to the Dominican Republic. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Dominican descent or to someone who has migrated to the United St ...

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 and mayor of Providence, Rhode Island. He defeated former mayor Buddy Cianci in the 2014 mayoral election and on January 5, 2015, was sworn in as mayor of the city. Early lif ...

. 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 served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

. On July 14, 2014, businessman Lorne Adrian withdrew his independent candidacy. Independent candidate Jeffrey E. Lemire failed to get his name on the ballot.

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 will be held on November 8, 2022. Since Providence limits mayors to two consecutive terms, incumbent mayor

, a Democrat, was

term-limited A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder 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 potentia ...

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

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

Brett Smiley Brett Smiley (September 25, 1955 – January 8, 2016)G ...

, former Rhode Island director of administration and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

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 2015, the current secretary of state is Nellie Gorbea. The Rhode Island Department of State or is composed of five separate divisions: *The El ...

Nellie Gorbea Nellie M. Gorbea (born July 12, 1967) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served as the Secretary of State of Rhode Island since January 2015. Gorbea is the first Hispanic to win statewide office in New England. ...

*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 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

*Kobi Dennis,

community activist Activism (or Advocacy) 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 greater good. Forms of activism range f ...

and 2018 mayoral candidate *

Grace Diaz Grace Diaz (born February 21, 1957) is an American politician who is a Democratic State Representative from Rhode Island representing District 11 in the city of Providence, Rhode Island. She was the first Dominican-American woman elected to state ...

Rhode Island state representative The Rhode Island House of Representatives is the lower house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the upper house being the Rhode Island Senate. It is composed of 75 members, electe ...

''(endorsed Cuervo)'' *

Raymond Hull Raymond Hull (1919–1985) was a Canadian playwright, television screenwriter, and lecturer. He also wrote many non-fiction books, numerous magazine articles, short stories, and poetry. He is best known as the co-author of the book '' The Peter P ...

, Rhode Island state representative *John Igliozzi, Providence City Council president *

John J. Lombardi John J. Lombardi (born April 30, 1952) is an American Democratic politician from Providence, Rhode Island. As President of the Providence City Council, he served as acting mayor for four months between the conviction of Buddy Cianci and the elec ...

, Rhode Island state representative, former acting mayor, and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

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