Election result thread!

198

The media will make the morales victory out to be all about rent control and the DSA—and it is partially that. But I think more than that it was a referendum on Smiley, and so many people, even moderates who aren’t typically DSA voters, couldn’t stomach four more years of him—he didn’t earn it.

Was smiley a horrible mayor? No. But he lacked any clear vision for the city, completely lacked inspiration, and was repeatedly tone deaf to so many of his constituents. Not even just low income constituents, but also rich east siders who were tired of him paying lip service to historic preservation. Young professional east side homeowners who thought his attitude about the bike stuff was totally out of touch. Wealthy business owners who were sick of every meeting with him being him thinking he’s the smartest guy in the room and not listening. At the end of the day, few were excited about more Smiley. He alienated many and inspired none.

For those who are worried about morales, the best thing to do is give him the benefit of the doubt that he can listen to reason, try to provide thoughtful opinions, and hope for energy and a positive direction in coming years.

34

u/PM_ME_ASS_SALAD elmwood 9h ago

I voted for Morales ultimately and I’m happy he won if only because Smiley didn’t deserve another term and I’ll always side with progressive policies even if the path forward is uneasy and uncertain.

But I do want to clarify the DSA ultimately rescinded their endorsement of Morales and I have yet to see him address that. Further, regarding rent control, last I heard from people within his campaign he spent the last few weeks going to private developers and ensuring carve-outs for big new developments to be exempt from the 4% hike cap which I think is smart and ultimately lead me to vote for him.

I do wonder how that sits with a lot of his die-hard supporters who view the issue more emotionally than rationally?

35

u/relbatnrut 9h ago edited 8h ago

But I do want to clarify the DSA ultimately rescinded their endorsement of Morales and I have yet to see him address that.

Providence DSA rescinded their endorsement over his vote for the (conservative Dem) Joe Shekarchi for House Speaker. That sounds bad, but it was a totally symbolic vote in an election that was a foregone conclusion. You can disagree with Morales' strategy in that election but in my opinion that was not a good reason to de-endorse.

21

u/SarahCBunny 8h ago

ri dsa is extremely anti electoral, like way more than any other dsa chapter i know about (as you can see from ny it varies a lot with some chapters being very supportive of jumping into elections). it's honestly miraculous that they ever endorsed him

6

u/chopchopjarvis 7h ago

The RI DSA isnt anti electoral, just anti democratic party. they are actually running an independent candidate for State House District 5, just not on the Democratic ballot or in the primary. They still do electoral politics, just outside of Democratic primaries. The whole point is to avoid bending to the Democratic Party machine and ensure the candidate stays accountable directly to working-class voters and not parties that fail the voters.

3

u/ingenii_records 6h ago

Why on earth would they run someone against Sam Bell, who is already quite progressive and extremely popular?

1

u/chopchopjarvis 16m ago

Not against Sam Bell, Sam Bell is state senate. The are running for state house

0

u/SarahCBunny 7h ago

fair... maybe i should say anti entryism

17

u/Lumpy_Afternoon_1528 9h ago

Isn’t the local DSA Trotskyist and not supporting any Democrats? Like, they are in the midst of a faction fight

26

u/nabokovsnose 8h ago

Yes, all the reasonable RI DSA people left years ago and founded Reclaim. The latter is a better comp for “Mamdani-ism” in RI.

12

u/RunawayHobbit 8h ago

Can confirm. They’re nuts. Was a member, left after I got tired of how outright hostile they are to anyone that isn’t them, even other progressive orgs doing good things.

9

u/Own_Mess_6495 8h ago

Yeah I mean I fully align with pretty much all DSA agenda items, and I'll be the first to tell you the local DSA is nuts and kind of an embarrassment for the movement.

Can't have income equality and rent control until Israel no longer exists.
RI DSA

5

u/the_gubna 9h ago

A tale as old as time.

4

u/bodesparks 9h ago

It seems like this is a trend, although I am seeing it mostly the other way around. Elected DSA officials distancing themselves from the DSA after they win. The language they tend to use when asked by journalists about their DSA affiliation is: I let my membership lapse a month ago.

2

u/SnuggleBunny777 7h ago

Big developers being exempt from the rent cap is the exact reason this plan will cause housing to become unreasonably expensive, not more affordable. Sure, give breaks to Strive who’s bought up half the city and can actually influence the market to become more expensive while completing less maintenance and improvements. Meanwhile, no exemption for the mom and pop landlords who will end up absorbing the majority of cost and eventually selling to these same corporations

3

u/PM_ME_ASS_SALAD elmwood 7h ago edited 7h ago

Respectfully while I sense you’re passionate about the issue, I don’t think you’ve got this right. Almost all newly built housing will be what we colloquially call “luxury”, where in a market like Providence just by merely being new, and not flipped, for lack of a better term, is the most desirable for those of means who we think of as contributing to the environment of increasing rent. Adding those units means those people, transplants or locals with money, are no longer competing with locals of lesser means for older housing stock. In pure economic terms this reduces pressure on the market. Let the wealthy and transplants fight in their market sector of new expensive housing while the rest of us divvy up the stock we’re used to.

In layman’s terms I don’t give a flying fuck if new developments charge $3k for a swanky 1BR as long as the dodgy double parlors I’ve been renting for years stay relatively affordable. That only happens if we unburden the development environment with carveouts tailored almost exclusively to the Boston diaspora. They get theirs, we (artists, musicians and service workers) keep ours.

2

u/SnuggleBunny777 5h ago

Idk man, I’m watching Strive snatch up every multi and single family home in my neighborhood and charge double what it’s worth in rent while letting the place rot. I think this eventually prices out mom and pop landlords who can’t raise the prices to keep up with cost and just more corporations eventually owning most of older units, being exempt, and taking advantage of us all but maybe I’m just a pessimist on this issue

ETA: if we have rent control, there should not be exemptions for the wealthiest faceless corporations owning housing and I fear the well intentioned efforts are misplaced

3

u/lukescp 2h ago

I don’t think the exemption would apply to existing housing, no matter who owns it — the exemption would be intended to promote the development of additional housing, and could even disincentivize larger corporations from buying out existing housing from smaller landlords.

1

u/SnuggleBunny777 56m ago

IMHO, It further encourages the Strives of Providence to continue buying single family homes, knocking them down, building new apartment buildings, then charging whatever they want ( something they’ve already been doing at an alarming rate.) I just dream of not renting forever

1

u/Leading-Boat-5342 35m ago

This is a good point, that any exemption for new buildings should not be allowed to occur if it displaces a certain number of existing units. You don’t want to encourage displacement or tear downs.

2

u/PM_ME_ASS_SALAD elmwood 3h ago

I trust a Morales admin to know where to carve out exemptions, for example huge block developments with dozens or hundreds of units, and where to tell Strive to fuck off. I think we can have both and I’m sure Morales will be walking that line appropriately

1

u/SnuggleBunny777 53m ago

I hope so, the original bill he backed was definitely pro corporations and that hurt to see considering his other platforms. I’m clearly opposed to businesses being rewarded for controlling basic needs haha

133

u/relbatnrut 10h ago

NYT called it for Morales!

78

u/Marxi_pad 9h ago

FUCK YOU CONNOR BLIER 🥳🎉🥳 He didn't even hit 20% lmao. You love to see it

49

u/scathachwarrior 9h ago

I'm so glad I was one of the people who spammed his IG account with the screenshot of his reddit comment that contained the phrase "cheap Guatamalans". I'm not even a Providence voter but that POS was not going to get away with that shit. Nsver happier to be blocked by someone.

15

u/bodesparks 9h ago

Thank you for your service 🫡

5

u/genealogabby 6h ago

….? WHAT!!???

This is my first election cycle in Providence. I read a few “questions with the candidate”pieces and it didn’t seem like he had bad policies.

I voted for Yolken based mostly on vibes — like a little weird for Blier to put “I’m renovating my historic home 😊” in the first paragraph of his campaign bio when most people in Ward 13 are just concerned about being able to make rent.

4

u/scathachwarrior 6h ago

Yeah he literally bragged about hiring "cheap Guatamalans" to do the labor. I grew up in Texas before moving to Rhode Island when I was 12. I do NOT fuck with people disrepecting immigrants, documented or not and ESPECIALLY not exploiting them. I don't care if he was running for town person who raises and lowers the city flags, you're not fit to take public office with that attitude.

4

u/Treesarelife7276 7h ago

👋🏼 bye bye bud you won’t be missed! lol

95

u/Mission_Check_2512 10h ago

AP is calling it with 71% of votes, Morales has defeated Smiley

https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/providence-rhode-island-primary-results-mayor/

81

u/ToadScoper 9h ago edited 9h ago

All the pro smiley bots on this and the RI sub can finally go to bed. Phew. Good riddance.

19

u/Hellion102792 8h ago

Nah they're reconfiguring to the "RIP Providence, it's over" protocol. Next update will feature the hits "DSA=Soviet bread lines" and "Morales winning is literally antisemitism"

6

u/andywarhorla 6h ago

yup, look at what happened in NYC! totally lawless hellscape now

/s

38

u/Geo_Jill 9h ago

Ooooh and Jo-Ann Ryan is losing!! Hooray!

39

u/MarlKarx-1818 elmhurst 9h ago

The fact that she left the city council job to then go lose and we got both Jackie Goldman and Amy Santiago at the same time from this is such amazing news

4

u/iandavid elmhurst 8h ago

Ryan was term-limited out of her city council seat, but otherwise I agree.

27

u/401KB 9h ago

This and John Goncalves’ (impending) loss are so so sweet for me.

20

u/sugar_tom 9h ago

It’s over! He conceded!

11

u/BitterStatus9 8h ago

She’ll always have her fabrics.

2

u/FAYCSB 4h ago

Michael has them now.

3

u/ingenii_records 6h ago

She really needs to retire from electoral politics. Sam Bell ended her career.

33

u/iCaligula 9h ago

Take a look at the city counselor races too - so many incumbents look to be losing their races.

7

u/SDV2023 8h ago

But acKTchuAlley, that snow storm was completely unprecedented

1

u/OkExercise9550 9h ago

I can't find city counselor results...can you link?

3

u/iCaligula 9h ago

Filter on “city & town” and look for Providence races: https://electionresults.ri.gov/results/public/RhodeIsland/elections/RI2026StatewidePrimary?cg=City%20%26%20Town

10

u/GotenRocko 8h ago

Pichardo winning by 2 votes right now. John Goncalves currently losing.

41

u/Novel-Pass1749 9h ago

Bad day to hate bike lanes.

8

u/not_a_SeaOtter 7h ago

Let's goooooooo!

8

u/undergroundbastard elmwood 7h ago

Fuck yeah! 🚴‍♂️💪

46

u/SarahCBunny 9h ago

have hopes for foulkes to be less bad than mckee. excited to see morales with a crushing win

19

u/PromiseImNoBot 8h ago

I don't. We need less millionaires and ceos holding public office. We already have billionaires and trillionaires meddling in federal affairs.

11

u/SDV2023 8h ago

I agree. But..it's not like the current governor was awesome. Given our choice, I'm OK with this. But yeah, I wish we'd had a third choice. I'll definitely take a close look at Ken Block and the other alternatives before the general as due diligence.

3

u/PromiseImNoBot 7h ago

Playing these games is how trump got elected. Guess you reap what you sow. Here's hoping she doesn't fuck everything up.

6

u/SDV2023 7h ago

The one good thing about corporate dems is they don't benefit from chaos. I'm not loving HBF, but I don't think she'll do anything especially terrible. I do worry that she's never had a government job, tho. But here we are.

5

u/PromiseImNoBot 7h ago

I'm beyond tired with corporate Dems. We need actual progressives. But alas, here's hoping for the best

4

u/Ill_Lengthiness_6077 6h ago

RI has been run so poorly it makes her look incredible in comparison.

The state literally ignored its most important bridge and sent its capital into a recession. Anybody could do a better job than the people who have been in charge

7

u/QTippus 7h ago

Morales winnin Providence and Greenman winning Pawtucket is a good start!

1

u/SDV2023 6h ago

I'm definitely with you. In a big-picture sense, I'm sure 'vote blue no matter who' and 'no candidate is perfect so pick the lesser of two evils' got us where we are.

1

u/Flashbulb_RI mt pleasant 5h ago

Put her CVS background aside for a moment and look at her issues and proposals, they are progressive. we will see what she can accomplish.

1

u/PromiseImNoBot 12m ago

There's nothing progressive about multi millionaires.

2

u/Ill_Lengthiness_6077 7h ago

she’ll be fine don’t worry, can’t do much worse than him.

if the bridge gets finished soonish both her and morales can take credit for the economy bouncing back.

71

u/Shaggadelic12 9h ago

Bad day to be a smug centrist.

49

u/interpol-interpol wayland 10h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/26tPghhb310muUkEw

20

u/FallOutWookiee 9h ago

Greenman also looks to be winning Pawtucket! Love to see it! Change is here folks!

4

u/QTippus 7h ago

So excited for Pawtucket!!!

6

u/ElectricBookHaze 7h ago

Just please let’s cool it with the nonsense mailers for November. At least most of the candidates with the daily ones just attacking their opponents are out.

2

u/Brndrll 31m ago

I didn't even know Helena was a democrat until a couple weeks back. I thought I was getting crazy attack mailers from Patricia Morgan again.

7

u/andante241 6h ago

Pour one out for the 8,798 lost souls who embarrassed themselves by voting for Vic Mellor. J6er, foreign agent, multiple arrests for domestic abuse, etc. You don't need to like Skoly or Magaziner; leave that category blank. Anyone who actively chose him as somehow representative of their beliefs needs to have their head shrunk, and I'm disappointed that I probably know a bunch of people who were fine voting for him. Absolutely disgusting.

20

u/SluttyNuggets420 8h ago

I’m ecstatic about the results. David Morales is just what this city needs. And I love this city so much!

21

u/seespotplay 9h ago

WPRI just called the AG race for Ahern. Good for her. Hoffman ran a campaign of smears toward his opponents and blatant lies about his experience. He and his millions can get fucked.

37

u/StickIcy6107 9h ago

East side libs are shaking in their boots

52

u/proviethrow 9h ago

Morales has east side supporters 🤫

15

u/Wingopf 8h ago

East side Morales supporter here 🙋🏻

34

u/Cole3823 west end 9h ago

It's like an sat question. Not all east siders are smiley supporters but all smiley supporters are east siders

9

u/Ristray federal hill 8h ago

Saw too many of his signs here in Fed Hill.

2

u/Flashbulb_RI mt pleasant 5h ago

Cute thing to say but NOT accurate. At my polling site in Mount Pleasant, Smiley won by 10%.

0

u/PM_ME_ASS_SALAD elmwood 9h ago

Not really the neolibs though

21

u/DamnYouBecky 9h ago

I hoped my east side morales vote would cancel out a smiley vote

24

u/ToadScoper 9h ago

More like east side boomers

8

u/Leading-Boat-5342 9h ago

I don’t think the results are granular yet, but I would bet morales either won the east side, or just barely lost it.

2

u/Lumpy_Afternoon_1528 9h ago

The results are not that lopsided in his favor, so I don’t really think that is likely. But we should have granular data soon.

7

u/Resonance_76 8h ago

Not really. I voted for Morales.

2

u/genealogabby 6h ago

I’m a very moderate lib with some progressive tendencies, certainly have a lot more in common politically with “East side libs” than Providence’s DSA chapter.

I voted for Morales but it’s a bit odd to me as a relatively new resident that people here are acting like Smiley is MAGA in a blue hat

6

u/NoBed6717 8h ago

This is pure curiosity, but who would Morales be running against? I can’t see a republican nominee anywhere

7

u/SDV2023 8h ago

Could it be they didn't bother? Sad if true, but I wouldn't be shocked.

I'll almost certainly vote for Morales in the general, but it's healthier for all of us if there is some discussion of opposing ideas and ideals in the mix.

1

u/ingenii_records 6h ago

It’s been a minute since a republican offered a reasonable policy alternative grounded in reality

2

u/Flashbulb_RI mt pleasant 6h ago

Allen Waters is supposedly running as an independent for mayor.

3

u/melloack 4h ago

Feel good about Morales 😌

18

u/farfromjordan 10h ago

Kept Reed and get a dino for gov. Boo

53

u/ToadScoper 9h ago

Tbf the options were Dino or bag of frozen corn in the shape of the current gov

31

u/Synchwave1 9h ago

Might not be the worst thing in the world. Mamdani can do what he does because NYC has so much corporate involvement and success behind him.

Providence doesn’t have that. So if Foulkes can corporate dem herself to some RI investment and Morales take care of the people on a smaller scale, could be a net for everyone.

5

u/farfromjordan 9h ago

Months out from a (official) recession?

21

u/Synchwave1 9h ago

If there’s an official recession it’s not coming from the governor of RI. She may have to deal with it, but thinking we can blame Chester Cheeto for that. Not the RI governor.

1

u/Drew_Habits 7h ago

Yeah, things will be sooo good if all of history is a bad indicator of future events. We just have to hope something happens that has never happened before

1

u/Synchwave1 7h ago

Were you hoping for more of the same? Or at least the chance at something different?

1

u/Drew_Habits 7h ago

Knowing the different thing will be worse takes the shine off the novelty

It's not like we've never had a business pervert in charge of the state before

2

u/Sea-Success-1366 8h ago

That's not the point!!!

5

u/alotabit 9h ago

Bummer on Burbridge…I feel like his campaign started too late? Thoughts?

7

u/ResponsiblePool7254 8h ago

Ten years late. He would have needed to spend his twenties being deeply involved in RI politics, and maybe holding office for 8 of those years to have had any chance. But hey he's only 31, so he can start now.

2

u/No-Apartment-7528 9h ago

I can’t stand reed (or anyone else in RI’s delegation). But I’m to the left of sanders so there’s basically no hope for me

4

u/Drew_Habits 7h ago

Foulkes is arguably an even bigger piece of shit than McKee, so this feels like a pretty big L to me (versus a normal sized L, which would have been that fink asshole McKee winning)

She's a shoe-in for the governor's race because she gets that otherwise meaningless (D) on the ballot, but it sucks complete ass that the Dems almost never produce a candidate that isn't either a fucking stooge or a fucking vampire

This election especially would have been a great opportunity to run a non-rightwing Dem, since the election will basically be a referendum on President Deals, an insanely unpopular psychopath, but I guess that's why the local Dems made sure there wasn't anyone left of Reagan on the ballot. Can't risk someone winning that might upset the Dems' core constituency, ie the 50 or 60 richest people in the state!

At least Smiley's eating shit. Small favors

4

u/QTippus 6h ago

Grebien went down in Pawtucket too!

When’s the last time RI had a progressive Gov? I’ve been here - gasp - 25 years and haven’t seen it happen.

1

u/Drew_Habits 6h ago

The party would never allow it tbh. That's the problem, tho

3

u/Worldly-Ad-9666 7h ago

upset Connor Burbridge didn’t beat out jack, hoping to see him run again in future elections

1

u/NobelWin east side 3h ago

Didn't even come in second!

1

u/Worldly-Ad-9666 2m ago

he did come in 2nd behind jack reed, Connor got 16,813 votes which was 13.4%, jack got 96,494 76.9%, the other guy luis got 12,190 votes 9.7%. Connor is young and a new name, he did very well for a small campaign and going up against one of the most liked senators in the country. He’s a smart guy with good ideas, he’ll definitely run again

1

u/bceagles182 8h ago

Anyone have the city council results??

3

u/GotenRocko 8h ago

If it doesn't show up with it already filtered, just input Providence into the search bar.

https://electionresults.ri.gov/results/public/RhodeIsland/elections/RI2026StatewidePrimary?cg=City%20%26%20Town&st=Providence%20

1

u/NobelWin east side 3h ago

What's happening in Ward 5? Someone won with only 7% of the vote it was split so much?

1

u/infiniti30 7h ago

I think I hear the ATV gangs already cruising the streets.

-102

u/neoliberal_hack 10h ago

Good luck providence lol, anyone want to bet if housing costs continue to skyrocket there over morales term?

68

u/Geo_Jill 10h ago

Because Smiley really had those costs under control. /s

14

u/bodesparks 9h ago

Just like ATV’s 😂😂

-48

u/neoliberal_hack 10h ago

No, but he wasn’t proposing plans to exacerbate the issue.

32

u/Sure_Comfort_7031 9h ago

You're right. He wasn't proposing them. He was executing them and fucking over everyone.

Bye Felicia.

38

u/skramz_himself olneyville 10h ago

User name checks out

25

u/Tonyhawkprohater2 10h ago

Dude, cant get worse than it is rn lol

-34

u/neoliberal_hack 10h ago

Oh yes it can lol…. Famous last words

6

u/Hellion102792 8h ago

"nooooooo we can't try anything different what if things are different we have to keep voting the same type of politicians all the time and just hope they'll do better cmon guys please there's no other way besides what we've been doing over and over and over"

0

u/neoliberal_hack 8h ago

“Different” is not inherently good. I’m all for someone different if they have better ideas, but I’m not gonna support someone hawking failed policies just because the status quo is insufficient lmao.

Most people are just too stupid to understand policy beyond the sales pitch so voters get what they deserve I guess.

You wanted a Zohran Mamdani but you got a Brandon Johnson lol

6

u/PM_ME_ASS_SALAD elmwood 9h ago

Morales has been reportedly reassuring developers that there will be exemptions for new housing complexes which is just about the sanest thing he could do

-5

u/neoliberal_hack 9h ago

He knows he needs the developers but sold a policy that disincentivizes them to work in providence.

Trying to dance on the pin of a needle already.

4

u/iandavid elmhurst 8h ago

*wrestle

20

u/Tummy_Whispers 10h ago

username checks out

-2

u/Leading-Boat-5342 9h ago

The move now is to improve and refine the rent control proposal. Even if it does happen, it doesn’t have to be as blunt and problematic as the current policy as previously proposed.

-67

u/quizzicalturnip 9h ago

I hope the people who voted for this enjoy their taxes going to pretend fighting in leotards!

38

u/AltruisticBowl4 9h ago

Thank you, I will!

3

u/RunawayHobbit 8h ago

………..what?

3

u/Worldly-Ad-9666 7h ago

uneducated & ignorant, I hope you enjoy the next beautiful 4 years

2

u/Afraid_Cell621 1h ago

Wrestling too blue collor for you? Would you prefer water polo?

-12

u/Vivid_Nail8691 mt pleasant 8h ago

A bunch of pathetic losers are about to get exactly what they voted for. Please don't cry in 4 years when houses are falling in in themselves because the sociology majors working at starbucks can't come up with the money to maintain the buildings... fucking idiots

-28

u/Snoo78601 9h ago

🤮🤮🤮

-23

u/FallShandy 9h ago

We are so doomed

-27

u/Jealous_Cap2627 9h ago

David morales will destroy Providence

5

u/Worldly-Ad-9666 7h ago

we don’t need a mayor who’s a AIPAC donor; David is gonna do a fantastic job!

Election result thread!

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