Housing Policy

In Rhode Island's Dem Primary, DSA Challenger Unseats Providence Mayor Who'd Vetoed Rent Control

Voters in Providence, Rhode Island, signaled that they want binding price controls.

Christian Britschgi | 9.11.2026 12:45 PM

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(Photo: Tom Wang/Cammeraydave/Dreamtime. Illustration: Fatima Ruiz.)

A majority of Democratic voters in Providence, Rhode Island, signaled support for aggressive rent regulation by voting for state Rep. David Morales over incumbent Mayor Brett Smiley in Wednesday's primary election. 

Morales, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (who nevertheless did not receive the local chapter's endorsement in the primary), ran on a progressive housing policy platform that called for capping rents at 4 percent annually and limiting corporate ownership of housing. 

He captured 52.4 percent of the primary vote, enough to comfortably unseat Smiley, who'd vetoed a city council-approved rent stabilization ordinance in April of this year. 

Smiley argued throughout the campaign that the city council's ordinance he'd vetoed, which would have capped........

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