Elections in Rhode Island
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Ballot measures 2020 Question 1
Providence Mayoral elections 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
v t e

Elections are held inProvidence,Rhode Island to electthe city's mayor. Such elections are regularly scheduled to be held inUnited States midterm election years.

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1998 Providence mayoral election

← 1994 November 3, 1998 2002 →

Candidate Buddy Cianci Party Independent Popular vote 23,746 Percentage 96.84%

Mayor before election Buddy Cianci Independent Elected mayor Buddy Cianci Independent

The1998 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 3, 1998. It saw the reelection ofBuddy Cianci to sixth overall, and third consecutive, term. Cianci ran unchallenged.

2002 Providence mayoral election

← 1998 November 5, 2002 2006 →

Candidate David Cicilline David Talan Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 29,843 3,453 Percentage 83.83% 9.70%

Mayor before election John J. Lombardi (acting) Democratic Elected mayor David Cicilline Democratic

The2002 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 5, 2002. It saw the election ofDemocratic nomineeDavid Cicilline in alandslide victory.

Cicilline was openlygay. After Cicilline took office, Providence became largest city in the United States at the time to have had an openlyLGBTQ mayor (a distinction which had, beforehand, belonged toTempe, Arizona since its election ofNeil Giuliano).^[2][3]

TheDemocratic Party held itsprimary election on September 10, 2002.^[4]

• David Cicilline, member of theRhode Island House of Representatives since 1995
• David V. Igliozzi,Rhode Island state senator and former Providence city councilor^[4]
• Kevin McKenna,attorney^[4]
• Joseph R. Paolino Jr., former mayor of Providence (1984–1991) and formerUnited States ambassador to Malta (1994–1996)

Withdrew

• Thomas O'Connor^[5]

David Ciciline and Kevin McKenna launched their campaigns prior to the June conviction of incumbent mayorBuddy Cianci, and criticized the disgraced mayor.^[4] Paolino and Igliozzi launched their candidacies after Cianci's conviction, and did not openly criticize Cianci.^[4] Igliozzi had once worked in the city's solicitor's office during Cianci's mayoralty.^[4]

Paloino pledged to revitalizeblighted areas of the city by cleaning up their parks and schools, and by increasing communitypolice officers.^[4]

Ciciline also advocated for the arts, and proposed making gallery and studio space available to more residents.^[4]

While Ciciline was openly gay, Paolino sought to challenge him for support of the city's gay voters.^[4]

• David Cicilline (Democrat), member of theRhode Island House of Representatives since 1995
• Greg Gerritt (Green)^[5]
• David Talin (Republican)^[5]
• Christopher Young (independent)^[5]

Withdrew

• Pat Cortelessa (independent)^[5]
• Robert Farrow (independent)^[5]

It was anticipated that the winner of the Democratic Party primary would be the race'sfrontrunner in the strongly Democratic city's mayoral race.^[4]

The sexuality of Cecilline, vying to become the city's first openlyhomosexual 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.^[3]

Throughout the campaign, Cecilline was a strong leader in polls.^[3]

2006 Providence mayoral election

← 2002 November 7, 2006 2010 →

Candidate David Cicilline Daniel S. Harrop III Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 30,835 6,119 Percentage 83.44% 16.56%

Mayor before election David Cicilline Democratic Elected mayor David Cicilline Democratic

The2006 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 7, 2006. It saw the reelection ofincumbentDemocratDavid Cicilline.

The Democratic Party'sprimary election was held on September 12, 2006.^[10]

• David Cicilline, incumbent mayor since 2003
• Christopher F. Young,perennial candidate (including as theReform nominee for United States Senate in2000 and as a candidate for mayor in 2002)

Cicilline faced Republican nominee Daniel S. Harrop III, who had previously run for state house in 2002 as aLibertarian and in 2004 as a Republican.

2010 Providence mayoral election

← 2006 November 2, 2010 2014 →

Candidate Angel Taveras Jonathan P. Scott Party Democratic Independent Popular vote 27,528 6,006 Percentage 82.1% 17.9%

Mayor before election David Cicilline Democratic Elected mayor Angel Taveras Democratic

The2010 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 2, 2010. The election saw the election ofAngel Taveras.

Taveras became the first Hispanic mayor of the city and the third elected and fourth servingDominican-American mayor in the United States.^[12]

IncumbentDavid Cicilline did not seek reelection, instead opting to run inthe 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.^[13]

2014 Providence mayoral election

← 2010 November 4, 2014 2018 →

Candidate Jorge Elorza Buddy Cianci Party Democratic Independent Popular vote 20,027 17,306 Percentage 52.1% 45.0%

Mayor before election Angel Taveras Democratic Elected mayor Jorge Elorza Democratic

The2014 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 4, 2014. The election saw the election ofJorge Elorza.

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

The Democratic primary was held on September 9, 2014.

Despite still appearing on the ballot, Brett Smiley had withdrawn and endorsed Elorza before the primary was held.^[16]

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 PresidentBarack Obama.^[18]

On July 14, 2014, businessman Lorne Adrian withdrew his independent candidacy.^[19]

Independent candidate Jeffrey E. Lemire failed to get his name on the ballot.^[20]

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.^[21]

2018 Providence mayoral election

← 2014 November 6, 2018 2022 →

Candidate Jorge Elorza Dianne S. Witman Party Democratic Independent Popular vote 26,935 14,016 Percentage 63.6% 33.1%

Mayor before election Jorge Elorza Democratic Elected mayor Jorge Elorza Democratic

The2018 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 6, 2018. The election saw the reelection ofJorge Elorza.

On September 12, 2018, incumbent mayor Jorge Elorza won renomination by the Democratic Party, defeating challengers Kobi Dennis and Robert DeRobbio.^[23]

Elorza had been endorsed by the party organization ahead of the primary.^[24]

2022 Providence mayoral election

← 2018 November 8, 2022 2026 →

Candidate Brett Smiley Party Democratic

Mayor before election Jorge Elorza Democratic Elected mayor Brett Smiley Democratic

The2022 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 8, 2022.

Since Providence limits mayors to two consecutive terms,^[13] incumbent mayorJorge Elorza, aDemocrat, wasterm-limited and thus could not run for reelection to a third consecutive term in office.^[27]

• Brett Smiley, former Rhode Island director of administration and2014 mayoral candidate^[28][29][30]

• Gonzalo Cuervo, former deputy secretary of state and former chief of staff toSecretary of State of Rhode IslandNellie Gorbea^[31][32][33]
• Nirva LaFortune, Providence city councilor^[34]

• Michael Solomon, former Providence City Council president and 2014 mayoral candidate^[35][27][36](endorsed Smiley)

• Lorne Adrian, businessman and 2014 independent mayoral candidate^[27][37]
• Dylan Conley, candidate for United States House of Representatives in2020^[38]
• Kobi Dennis,community activist and 2018 mayoral candidate^[27][39][37]
• Grace Diaz,Rhode Island state representative^[27][39][37](endorsed Cuervo)
• Raymond Hull, Rhode Island state representative^[39][37]
• John Igliozzi, Providence City Council president^{[27][39][37][40]}
• John J. Lombardi, Rhode Island state representative, former acting mayor, and2010 mayoral candidate^[27][39][37]
• David Salvatore, city councilor^[27][39][37]

Official campaign websites

• Gonzalo Cuervo (D) for Mayor
• Nirva LaFortune (D) for Mayor
• Brett Smiley (D) for Mayor

2026 Providence mayoral election

← 2022 November 3, 2026 2030 →

Mayor before election Brett Smiley Democratic Elected mayor TBD

The2026 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 3, 2026.

Incumbent mayorBrett Smiley aDemocrat, is running for a second consecutive term.

• David Morales,state representative from the 7th district (2021–present)^[56]
• Brett Smiley, incumbent mayor^[56]

Official campaign websites

• David Morales (D) for Mayor
• Brett Smiley (D) for Mayor

• Mayoral elections in the United States
• Government of Providence, Rhode Island
• History of Providence, Rhode Island
• Local elections in Rhode Island

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