Mayoral elections in Providence, Rhode Island

Elections in Rhode Island
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Ballot measures 2020 Question 1
Providence Mayoral elections 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
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Elections are held in Providence, Rhode Island to elect the city's mayor. Such elections are regularly scheduled to be held in United 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

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

1998 Providence mayoral election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Buddy Cianci	23,746	96.84
	Write-in	Others	774	3.16
Total votes			24,520	100

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

The 2002 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 5, 2002. It saw the election of Democratic nominee David Cicilline in a landslide victory.

Cicilline wisas openly gay. After Cicilline took office, Providence became largest city in the United States at the time to have had an openly LGBTQ mayor (a distinction which had, beforehand, belonged to Tempe, Arizona since its election of Neil Giuliano).^[2][3]

The Democratic Party held its primary election on September 10, 2002.^[4]

• David Cicilline, member of the Rhode 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 former United States ambassador to Malta (1994–1996)

Withdrew

• Thomas O'Connor^[5]

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	David Cicilline	David Igliozzi	Kevin McKenna	Joseph R. Paolino Jr.	Undecided
[4]			± 4.5%	50%	10%	4%	32%	4%

David Ciciline and Kevin McKenna launched their campaigns prior to the June conviction of incumbent mayor Buddy 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 revitalize blighted areas of the city by cleaning up their parks and schools, and by increasing community police 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]

2002 Providence Democratic mayoral primary^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David N. Cicilline	14,167	52.09
	Democratic	Joseph R. Paolino, Jr.	9,253	34.02
	Democratic	David V. Igliozzi	3,047	11.20
	Democratic	Christopher Young	730	2.68
Turnout			27,197	28.38

• David Cicilline (Democrat), member of the Rhode 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's frontrunner in the strongly Democratic city's mayoral race.^[4]

The sexuality of Cecilline, vying to become the city's first openly homosexual 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]

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	David Cicilline (D)	Greg Gerritt (G)	Dave Talan (R)	Christopher Young (i)	Undecided
Brown University[8]	September 14–22, 2002	506 LV	± 4%	70%	2%	4%	1%	23%

2002 Providence mayoral election^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David N. Cicilline	29,843	83.83
	Republican	David B. Talan	3,453	9.70
	Green	Greg Gerritt	1,371	3.85
	Independent	Christopher F. Young	931	2.62
Total votes			35,598	100

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

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

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

• David Cicilline, incumbent mayor since 2003
• Christopher F. Young, perennial candidate (including as the Reform nominee for United States Senate in 2000 and as a candidate for mayor in 2002)

2006 Providence Democratic mayoral primary^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David N. Cicilline (incumbent)	11,849	73.95
	Democratic	Christopher F. Young	4,175	26.06
Total votes			16,024	100

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

2006 Providence mayoral election^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David N. Cicilline (incumbent)	30,835	83.44
	Republican	Daniel S. Harrop III	6,119	16.56
Total votes			36,954	100

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

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

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

Incumbent David Cicilline 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.^[13]

Primary election results^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Angel Taveras	11,897	49.1%
	Democratic	John J. Lombardi	7,050	29.1%
	Democratic	Steven M. Costantino	4,867	20.1%
	Democratic	Christopher Young	392	1.6%

General election results^[15]

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

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

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

Incumbent Angel Taveras did not seek reelection, and instead (unsuccessfully) sought the Democratic nomination in the coinciding 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]

2014 Providence Democratic mayoral primary^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jorge Elorza	11,051	48.7%
	Democratic	Michael A. Solomon	9,870	43.5%
	Democratic	Christopher F. Young	1,049	4.6%
	Democratic	Brett Smiley	745	3.3%

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.^[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]

2014 Providence mayoral election^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jorge O. Elorza	20,027	52.1%
	Independent	Vincent A. Cianci, Jr.	17,306	45.0%
	Republican	Daniel S. Harrop	1,049	2.6%
	Write-in	Write-in	88	0.2%
Total votes			38,470

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

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

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Lorne Adrian	Kobi Dennis	Robert DeRobbio	Jorge Elorza	John Lombardi	Other	Undecided
John Zogby Strategies[25]	April 4–8, 2019	424	± 5%	6.5%	8.3%	5.4%	35.9%	18.3%	8.2%	17.3%
				–	–	–	45.8%	33.3%	–	–

Primary election results^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jorge O. Elorza (incumbent)	13,363	57.4%
	Democratic	Kobi Jason Dennis	5,425	23.3%
	Democratic	Robert A. DeRobbio	4,493	19.3%

2018 Providence mayoral election^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jorge O. Elorza (incumbent)	26,935	63.6%
	Independent	Dianne S. Witman	14,016	33.1%
	Independent	Jeffrey E. Lemire	1,172	2.8%
	Write-in		212	0.5%
Total votes			42,335	100

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

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

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

• Brett Smiley, former Rhode Island director of administration and 2014 mayoral candidate^[28][29][30]

• Gonzalo Cuervo, former deputy secretary of state and former chief of staff to Secretary of State of Rhode Island Nellie 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 in 2020^[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, and 2010 mayoral candidate^[27][39][37]
• David Salvatore, city councilor^[27][39][37]

Democratic primary results^[55]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Brett Smiley	9,025	41.84
	Democratic	Gonzalo Cuervo	7,905	35.64
	Democratic	Nirva LaFortune	4,643	21.52
Total votes			21,573	100.0%

Official campaign websites

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

2022 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Brett Smiley
Total votes				100.0%