City & town

Mayor, City of Providence

Vote for: 1
Term: 4 years
Candidates: 2
Election: Nov 3, 2026

What this office does: The city's elected chief executive, who oversees city departments, appoints department heads and many board members, and proposes the annual budget.

Candidates Compare by issue

David Morales

Democrat

State representative (House District 7)

The gist

Supports capping annual rent increases at 4%.
Proposes requiring affordable units in all new housing projects.
Pledges to stabilize property taxes on homes under $2 million.
Proposes making Port of Providence polluters pay more.
Pledges multilingual educators and support staff in every school.
Pledges to keep police staffing level through local recruiting.
Proposes contracting social workers and outreach teams for crises.
Proposes free RIPTA bus rides for Providence public school students.

More about David

View sources (3)

Supports capping annual rent increases at 4%.
David Morales for Providence Mayor
Campaign website · Friends of David Morales · davidmoralespvd.com
“Cap annual rent hikes at 4% to keep our neighbors safely housed”
Proposes requiring affordable units in all new housing projects.
David Morales for Providence Mayor: Issues
Campaign website · Friends of David Morales · davidmoralespvd.com
“David will require all new housing projects to include affordable units.”
Pledges to stabilize property taxes on homes under $2 million.
David Morales for Providence Mayor: Issues
Campaign website · Friends of David Morales · davidmoralespvd.com
“working to stabilize property taxes for homes valued under $2 million”
Proposes making Port of Providence polluters pay more.
David Morales for Providence Mayor: Issues
Campaign website · Friends of David Morales · davidmoralespvd.com
“David will require them to contribute more toward the city services and infrastructure our communities deserve.”
Pledges multilingual educators and support staff in every school.
David Morales for Providence Mayor: Issues
Campaign website · Friends of David Morales · davidmoralespvd.com
“David will ensure all public schools are staffed with multilingual educators, teaching assistants, social workers, librarians, and community coordinators”
Pledges to keep police staffing level through local recruiting.
David Morales for Providence Mayor: Public Safety plan
Campaign website · Friends of David Morales · davidmoralespvd.com
“the Morales Administration will maintain current staffing levels by recruiting aspiring officers who are invested in serving our neighbors in Providence.”
Proposes contracting social workers and outreach teams for crises.
David Morales for Providence Mayor: Public Safety plan
Campaign website · Friends of David Morales · davidmoralespvd.com
“the Morales Administration will enter annual cost-sharing agreements to contract social workers, case managers, and outreach teams.”
Proposes free RIPTA bus rides for Providence public school students.
David Morales for Providence Mayor: Issues
Campaign website · Friends of David Morales · davidmoralespvd.com
“David will enter a partnership with RIPTA to provide free and universal bus rides for PPSD students.”

David B Talan

Republican

Legislative administrative assistant; Providence Republican Party co-chair

The gist

Supports an optional return to neighborhood schools.
Proposes cutting school busing costs to hold down taxes.
Proposes shrinking the school district's central administrative office.
Supports letting charter schools use empty school buildings.
Opposes rent control and supports building more housing.
Supports the directive barring police cooperation with ICE.
Proposes hiring landscapers with trucks to plow smaller storms.

More about David

View sources (1)

Supports an optional return to neighborhood schools.
Providence Mayoral Candidate Dave Talan is a “firewall to prevent Providence becoming a laboratory for socialism”
Interview · Steve Ahlquist · steveahlquist.substack.com
“I’d like to go back to the neighborhood school model for the families who want that.”
Proposes cutting school busing costs to hold down taxes.
Providence Mayoral Candidate Dave Talan is a “firewall to prevent Providence becoming a laboratory for socialism”
Interview · Steve Ahlquist · steveahlquist.substack.com
“improve the quality of education, and hold down taxes at the same time, and the biggest place we could save money is busing.”
Proposes shrinking the school district's central administrative office.
Providence Mayoral Candidate Dave Talan is a “firewall to prevent Providence becoming a laboratory for socialism”
Interview · Steve Ahlquist · steveahlquist.substack.com
“I think the administrative office is totally bloated.”
Supports letting charter schools use empty school buildings.
Providence Mayoral Candidate Dave Talan is a “firewall to prevent Providence becoming a laboratory for socialism”
Interview · Steve Ahlquist · steveahlquist.substack.com
“You’ve got all these school buildings the charter schools could use, and it would solve so many problems.”
Opposes rent control and supports building more housing.
Providence Mayoral Candidate Dave Talan is a “firewall to prevent Providence becoming a laboratory for socialism”
Interview · Steve Ahlquist · steveahlquist.substack.com
“I’m concerned that rent control will prevent anybody new from coming in and building anything new in Providence … To do that, you’re going to have to build more housing.”
Supports the directive barring police cooperation with ICE.
Providence Mayoral Candidate Dave Talan is a “firewall to prevent Providence becoming a laboratory for socialism”
Interview · Steve Ahlquist · steveahlquist.substack.com
“I basically agreed with what Mayor Smiley did in directing the police not to cooperate with ICE.”
Proposes hiring landscapers with trucks to plow smaller storms.
Providence Mayoral Candidate Dave Talan is a “firewall to prevent Providence becoming a laboratory for socialism”
Interview · Steve Ahlquist · steveahlquist.substack.com
“when you get a storm of less than a foot, hire all the landscapers with trucks to plow it.”

Challengers are listed first and incumbents last; otherwise candidates appear in ballot order. The Gist does not rank, rate or endorse candidates. Only positions backed by a cited source are shown; 7 issues covered in this race.