Elections are held in Providence, Rhode Island to elect the city's mayor. Such elections are regularly scheduled to be held in United States midterm election years.
The 1998 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 3, 1998. It saw the reelection of Buddy Cianci to sixth overall, and third consecutive, term. Cianci ran unchallenged.
The 2002 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 5, 2002. It saw the election of Democratic nominee David Cicilline in a landslide victory.
Cicilline was openly gay. After Cicilline took office, Providence became largest city in the United States at the time to have had an openly LGBTQ mayor (a distinction which had, beforehand, belonged to Tempe, Arizona since its election of Neil Giuliano).
The Democratic Party held its primary election on September 10, 2002.
Withdrew
David Ciciline and Kevin McKenna launched their campaigns prior to the June conviction of incumbent mayor Buddy Cianci, and criticized the disgraced mayor. Paolino and Igliozzi launched their candidacies after Cianci's conviction, and did not openly criticize Cianci. Igliozzi had once worked in the city's solicitor's office during Cianci's mayoralty.
Paloino pledged to revitalize blighted areas of the city by cleaning up their parks and schools, and by increasing community police officers.
Ciciline also advocated for the arts, and proposed making gallery and studio space available to more residents.
While Ciciline was openly gay, Paolino sought to challenge him for support of the city's gay voters.
Withdrew
It was anticipated that the winner of the Democratic Party primary would be the race's frontrunner in the strongly Democratic city's mayoral race.
The sexuality of Cecilline, vying to become the city's first openly homosexual mayor, was not a prominent issue in the campaign. Some in the gay community even criticized Cecilline, accusing him of downplaying his sexuality in order to appeal more broadly to voters.
Throughout the campaign, Cecilline was a strong leader in polls.
The 2006 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 7, 2006. It saw the reelection of incumbent Democrat David Cicilline.
The Democratic Party's primary election was held on September 12, 2006.
Cicilline faced Republican nominee Daniel S. Harrop III, who had previously run for state house in 2002 as a Libertarian and in 2004 as a Republican.
The 2010 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 2, 2010. The election saw the election of Angel Taveras.
Taveras became the first Hispanic mayor of the city and the third elected and fourth serving Dominican-American mayor in the United States.
Incumbent David Cicilline did not seek reelection, instead opting to run in the coinciding election for Rhode Island's 1st congressional district. Cicilline was eligible to seek reelection to a third consecutive term as mayor, as term limits passed in 2006 (which limited mayors to two consecutive terms) would not go into effect until the following year.
The 2014 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 4, 2014. The election saw the election of Jorge Elorza.
Incumbent Angel Taveras did not seek reelection, and instead (unsuccessfully) sought the Democratic nomination in the coinciding Rhode Island gubernatorial election.
The Democratic primary was held on September 9, 2014.
Despite still appearing on the ballot, Brett Smiley had withdrawn and endorsed Elorza before the primary was held.
The election pinned Democratic primary winner Jorge Elorza against former mayor Buddy Cianci, who was running as an independent, and Republican Daniel S. Harrop.
Elorza was endorsed by United States President Barack Obama.
On July 14, 2014, businessman Lorne Adrian withdrew his independent candidacy.
Independent candidate Jeffrey E. Lemire failed to get his name on the ballot.
Cianci had previously served as mayor 1975âÂÂ84 and 1991âÂÂ2002, each time being ousted due to criminal convictions. A prominent issue was made of his past convictions. Cianci characterized Elorza as inexperienced, and called a possible return to the mayoralty for a third tenure as a "last rodeo" for himself.
The 2018 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 6, 2018. The election saw the reelection of Jorge Elorza.
On September 12, 2018, incumbent mayor Jorge Elorza won renomination by the Democratic Party, defeating challengers Kobi Dennis and Robert DeRobbio.
Elorza had been endorsed by the party organization ahead of the primary.
The 2022 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election was held on November 8, 2022.
Since Providence limits mayors to two consecutive terms, incumbent mayor Jorge Elorza, a Democrat, was term-limited and thus could not run for reelection to a third consecutive term in office.
Official campaign websites
The 2026 Providence, Rhode Island mayoral election will be held on November 3, 2026.
Incumbent mayor Brett Smiley, a Democrat, is running for a second consecutive term.
Official campaign websites