by Nate Gustafson ’29 on September 17, 2026
Opinion
On Wednesday, Sept. 9, voters across the state of Rhode Island took to the polls to cast their ballots in the state’s primary elections. Although the primaries delivered many interesting results, including incumbent Governor Dan McKee suffering defeat in his bid for reelection, one race stuck out to me and many other Democrats across the state:the Providence mayoral race.
As one of the most closely watched races in the state during this primary election cycle, the Providence mayoral race saw Incumbent Mayor Brett Smiley, who has served in the role since January 2023, face off against State Representative David Morales, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who has represented District 7 in the State House since 2021.
In the wake of fellow DSA member Zohran Mamdani’s resounding victory in New York, the contest garnered considerable media coverage and attention, not just here in the Ocean State, but also at the national level, thanks to Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ro Khanna’s endorsements of Morales. Both men ran wide-ranging campaigns, including advertisements using social media, TV, radio, and printed mediums, among other methods. Smiley focused heavily on public safety, often citing the crime statistics of the city under his leadership, while Morales’s campaign was almost entirely focused on the affordability and wealth inequality issues in Providence. As the race progressed, polling data, which initially showed Smiley in the lead, had swung in Morales’s favor, and this proved accurate as Morales received 52.5 percent of the vote and will succeed Smiley as the next mayor of Providence in January.
Ultimately, I believe that this race was decided primarily by the numerous gaffes from Smiley’s campaign, which Morales capitalized on at every opportunity. One glaring example was Smiley’s controversial attack ad, in which Morales’s skin tone was apparently darkened while the ad framed a potential Morales administration as a danger to the city. Most would agree that this is a bad look for an older white candidate, and this rightfully outraged many minority voters. Another example is Smiley’s support of the use of Flock Cameras in Providence. In a debate with Morales on a podcast, he cited them as a vital tool for police to stop crime and committed to not canceling the city’s contract, despite national public outrage against the technology over privacy and tracking concerns. Morales supports the contrary, and will work to cancel the contract, which helped him earn more support. These are just two of the many irrecoverable missteps in Smiley’s campaign, which ultimately cost him reelection to the “only job in public office [he] ever wanted,” as he described in his post-loss remarks Wednesday night. In summary, Smiley’s anti-crime campaign was simply not enough to garner sufficient support amongst a financially-conscious electorate.
Primaries were also held for the Providence City Council, where nearly all of the Morales-backed candidates won. This sweeping takeover should allow Morales to deliver on his campaign promises faster and bring much needed change to a city that so desperately needs new leadership.
The future is bright in Providence, and I’m excited for what’s ahead as we usher in this new era of young, competent leadership in our government.