PROVIDENCE, R.I. — State Rep. David Morales will be the next mayor of Providence after the 28-year-old Democrat easily defeated Republican Dave Talan in Tuesday’s general election.
Morales will be the youngest person ever to lead the capital city. A democratic socialist, he told supporters on election night that voters in Providence and across Rhode Island had clearly asked for change.
His path to City Hall ran through a September upset. Morales knocked off Mayor Brett Smiley in the Democratic primary, the first time a challenger had ousted a sitting Providence mayor in a primary, even though Smiley outspent him by more than seven to one. Smiley later declined to endorse him.
Talan, who co-chairs the city Republican Party, campaigned on reshaping the Providence Public School District to lighten the local tax load and reached out to moderate Democrats uneasy with Morales. The city has not chosen a Republican mayor since 1978.
Housing costs sat at the center of the Morales campaign. He has promised to sign rent stabilization into law within his first 100 days and to start enforcing it as soon as fall 2027. In April 2026 the City Council passed a 4 percent cap on yearly rent increases, and Smiley vetoed it a day later.
Morales has held a Rhode Island House seat since 2021, representing the Elmhurst, Mount Pleasant and Valley neighborhoods. At the State House he backed a ban on rental application fees and legislation to raise the minimum wage. He also says he will tackle staffing and funding gaps in city schools and seek more revenue from corporate polluters and landlords.
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