Providence, Rhode Island is one of the least affordable cities for renters in the US — rent costs relative to income rival New York City’s, but without any rent stabilization laws. A 4% cap on rent hikes passed the city council in 2026, but Democratic Mayor Brett Smiley vetoed it; the override attempt fell one vote short.
State Representative David Morales is challenging Smiley in the September 9 Democratic primary on a democratic socialist platform:
- Pass rent stabilization with a 4% cap and fund a properly equipped rent stabilization board
- Cancel the city’s Flock surveillance camera contract — Smiley took thousands from Flock’s lobbyists and is expanding the program
- Increase property taxes on industrial polluters at the Port of Providence (Shell Terminal Station in the predominantly Black and Brown Lower South Side)
- Equip the city solicitor’s office to prosecute ICE agents violating sanctuary city laws
- Free public transit for Providence students
- Reject corporate PAC money — Morales has taken a pledge Smiley won’t
Morales is running without his local DSA chapter’s endorsement (Rhode Island DSA no longer participates in Democratic primaries), but has backing from local unions, Providence’s former mayor, Reclaim Rhode Island, and Bernie Sanders. He’s also actively supporting city council candidates to build a governing coalition — knocking over 50,000 doors and making 100,000+ phone calls.
He draws direct inspiration from Zohran Mamdani’s NYC mayoral campaign, taking volunteers to canvas for Mamdani and learning neighbor-led field organizing. The framing is pointed: democratic socialism is not a fringe position but a popular demand for systemic change, and contesting Democratic primaries (rather than running as independents) is essential to reach the working-class voters who identify as Democrats but support progressive policy.
A victory here would mean the first democratic socialist mayor of a New England capital — and a template for how the left builds power outside NYC.