2014 Providence RI Mayoral Election

The 2014 Providence Mayoral Election, a contest between two-time former mayor, the Prince of Providence, Buddy Cianci, and former Housing Court Judge Jorge Elorza resulted in Cianci failing to win back the Mayoralty he had twice held for 20 non-consecutive years.

Seen as the figure that fundamentally established the modern city of providence Cianci, still popular despite resigning once over assaulting a man who he accused of sleeping with his wife, and again over being charged with Racketeering, was an early frontrunner to regain the mayoralty, with Democrats scrambling to find a candidate to prevent Cianci from serving in a third decade in the mayoralty.

Who they eventually settled on was Jorge Elorza, a former housing court Judge and law professor—whom won in a close fought Democratic primary over then-city council president Michael Solomon.

The general election, herein, was dominated by the question of the Buddy Cianci Comeback, with Elorza focusing his campaign on good-government and anti-corruption and Cianci on his experience as mayor while funcionally 'owning up' to the past transgressions.

This domination of Cianci's personality stretched across party lines, with GOP candidate Daniel Harrop funcionally dropping out of the race, endorsing Elorza, and donating $1,000 to him in a bid to stop Cianci.

Even Beyond this, then-President Barrack Obama made a rare last minute foray into municipal politics, endorsing Elorza in order to stop the former-Recketeering Convict from becoming Mayor, again.

In the end, the campaign to Stop Cianci was successfull, with Elorza winning over the prince of Providence by 7%—thereby preventing the former mayor's second comback bid from, unlike the first, being successfull.

One of the more interesting fascets of this election was the coalitions that it spawned. In both the primary and General Elorza did best with College Educated upscale whites, while losing non-college educated working class whites and Latinos—though by less—to Michael Solomon and Buddy Cianci respectively.

Elorza would go on to be reelected mayor in 2018 before being Termed out in 2022. Buddy Cianci has since passed away, in 2016, at age 74.

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