Morales wins Providence mayoral race

David Morales will be the next mayor of Providence after defeating his Republican challenger in Tuesday’s general election.

Morales received 81% of the vote to Talan’s 17%, according to unofficial results from the Rhode Island Board of Elections as of 8:34 p.m. The Associated Press called the race two minutes earlier.

Morales’ victory over Republican Dave Talan furthers the political shift which began with the 28-year-old Democratic candidate’s victory over incumbent Mayor Brett Smiley in September’s primary.

Morales, a democratic socialist who was first elected as a state Representative in 2020, defeated Smiley by a 57%-43% margin in September. Morales’ platform emphasized a more progressive direction for city government, especially for housing affordability. A major point of Morales’ campaign was his support for a rent stabilization measure which Smiley vetoed earlier this year.

Talan, 77, a retired computer systems analyst and engineer, opposed rent stabilization and argued the city’s housing issues could be better soothed through more housing stock.

In his election night victory speech on Tuesday, Morales thanked the hundreds of campaign volunteers who had worked through the seasons to spread his message across the city.

“From the winter days when we were out shoveling snow for our neighbors to the hot winter afternoons that we were back out there, we did it because we cared,” Morales recalled. “We cared enough to share our message around building a city that we could all afford and feel safe calling home.”

Morales is scheduled to announce the co-chairs of his mayoral transition team at a press conference Wednesday at 2 p.m.

After pledging to urgently address housing affordability, public schools and immigrant protections in the city, Morales invoked one of his favorite fictional characters to close his speech to supporters Tuesday night.

“As a hero of mine once said, ‘With great power comes great responsibility,’” Morales said, quoting Spider-Man.