Providence mayoral race’s first forum brings Democratic party fault lines into focus

By: Alexander Castro

Outlets: Rhode Island Current

Published: April 23, 2026

Words: 1,424

Last Updated: 2 months, 2 weeks ago

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Rhode Island’s capital of Providence often serves as shorthand for the state itself. A four-candidate forum for the city’s mayoral race held Wednesday night at Brown University gestured toward even larger forces, ones comparable to those reshaping Democratic politics elsewhere.

Three of the candidates — incumbent Mayor Brett Smiley, state Rep. David Morales, and Michael English — will vie Sept. 9 in the Democratic primary. The lone independent candidate, Allen Waters, will face the …

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