Providence, Rhode Island: David Morales, 28, Wins Mayor's Race and Makes City History

Providence voters elected David Morales as the city's next mayor on Tuesday, making the 28 year old state representative the youngest mayor in the city's history. The Associated Press called the race for Morales before 9 p.m., and he held roughly 81 percent of the vote with 97 percent of precincts reporting just after 10 p.m., according to the Providence Journal.

Morales, a Democrat who identifies as a democratic socialist, defeated Republican David Talan. He will be the city's 40th mayor. The title of youngest mayor before him belonged to Joseph Paolino Jr., who was elected in 1984 at age 29, according to Ocean State Media. Morales is nearly a full year younger.

A primary win that set up the night

The general election result was set up in September. Morales defeated incumbent Mayor Brett Smiley in the Democratic primary on September 9, taking 53 percent of the vote to Smiley's 47 percent in the Journal's primary count, 13,903 votes to 12,549. An incumbent mayor losing a primary was a first for the city in recent memory, and in deep blue Providence it made Morales the heavy favorite for November.

Morales first took office in January 2021, representing District 7 in the Rhode Island House, which covers the Mount Pleasant, Valley and Elmhurst neighborhoods. He was the youngest state lawmaker at the State House when he took office, according to Ocean State Media. His mayoral campaign centered on housing affordability and rent stabilization, the issue that drove his primary challenge.

Election night

Morales claimed victory at an election night event in downtown Providence. Ocean State Media reported that as he stepped up to claim the win, he jumped off the riser to hug a supporter in the crowd. Morales has moonlighted for years as a professional wrestler alongside his work at the State House, a second career his supporters know well.

The result drew national attention because the Providence race had been watched well beyond Rhode Island since the primary. Morales is six years younger than New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the mayor he is most often compared with, according to Ocean State Media.

Morales takes office in January. He inherits a city government run since 2023 by Smiley, the mayor he beat twice in one year, first for the nomination and then, in effect, for the office itself. The size of the win, more than four votes in five, gives the youngest mayor in Providence history a clear mandate from the city he now has to run.