A potential 2026 challenger to Providence Mayor Brett Smiley – The Boston Globe

The 2026 election is still a long way away, but a state representative is openly flirting with the idea of challenging Providence Mayor Brett Smiley in the Democratic primary.

State Representative David Morales, the 26-year-old progressive who was first elected in 2020 and holds a side gig as a wrestler, confirmed that he is considering running for mayor in less than two years.

”While I’m still gauging support and financial viability, this is an opportunity that I’ve been encouraged about for a while now from neighbors and a handful of officials,” Morales said. He teased a potential run on social media last week, the same day I listed him as one of 10 Democrats to watch in Rhode Island.

The bigger picture: Morales isn’t as much of a bomb thrower as some of his progressive allies in the legislature, which has helped to endear him to House leadership. That doesn’t mean they’d support him over Smiley, but they do view him as an effective member of the General Assembly.

Smiley’s main vulnerability has always been with progressives — he lost the left-leaning West End to Gonzalo Cuervo in the 2022 primary — and he could have gum on his shoes if he follows through on a property tax increase next year to pay for what the city owes its schools.

Morales’s challenge would be expanding his base beyond the progressives who will vote for anyone but Smiley. He’s deeply involved in the Mount Pleasant community beyond politics, coaching Little League and holding events at the local library. His appeal could extend into the East Side (where Smiley lives) and he speaks fluent Spanish.

Reality check: An incumbent mayor hasn’t lost in Providence since 1974, when Buddy Cianci beat Joe Doorley. The last time an incumbent mayor faced a credible challenge was 1994, when Cianci beat back Paul Jabour.

So the odds are still very much on Smiley’s side, especially since he’ll have a massive financial advantage. The mayor currently has $561,000 in his campaign account, compared to $43,000 for Morales.

One issue to keep an eye on in 2025 is rent control.

The City Council is planning to roll out a proposal on limiting rent increases in the coming months, and Smiley has said he opposes the idea. If he can’t kill the ordinance with the council, an alternative option would be to seek a preemption from the General Assembly that blocks municipalities from imposing rent control (this happened around the minimum wage in 2014). If rent control ends up a topic on Smith Hill, it could become an opening for Morales to raise his profile.

This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you’d like to receive it via email Monday through Friday, you can sign up here.

Dan McGowan can be reached at dan.mcgowan@globe.com. Follow him @danmcgowan.