David Cicilline

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David Cicilline (born 1961) is Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island. He is the first openly gay mayor of an American state capital.

Cicilline was born and raised in Providence and then Narragansett. He attended Brown University (where he was a classmate of John F. Kennedy, Jr.) and Georgetown University Law Center. He worked as a lawyer in Washington, D.C., and Providence before being elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives in 1995. He served a total of four terms in the legislature, during which time he came out publicly. Since making public his homosexuality, Cicilline's campaigns have won the backing of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.

As a state representative, he garnered the endorsement of the Million Mom March and won Common Cause of Rhode Island's Number One ranking in 2002 for his dedication to ethics in government and reform of the political process.

[edit] As Mayor

On February 11, 2002, Cicilline announced his candidacy for Mayor of the City of Providence, in the face of the public's loss of confidence in government and deterioration of the city's neighborhoods. He called for a returned focus on quality services in the community, and urged a fundamental change in the way city business is conducted. He also called for the city to begin to include the many diverse residents within its structure, so that it resembled more closely those whom it served.

The sitting Mayor, Vincent A. "Buddy" Cianci was convicted of racketeering conspiracy in the spring of 2002 and sentenced to seven years in federal prision. His resignation as a result of the Plunder Dome scandal opened up the race and encouraged the entrance of several other candidates.

On September 10, Cicilline swept a four-way primary election with 53% of the vote, and went on to win the general election with 84% of the vote. He was re-elected in 2006 with 83%.