Can The Mamdani Model Travel?

Last October, right after David Morales launched his long shot bid to become the next mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, he and roughly 15 supporters drove to New York City to knock on doors for Zohran Mamdani.

“Zohran demonstrated that working people want candidates and politicians that are going to unapologetically fight for them,” Morales said in an interview. “What I saw from Zohran’s campaign was the inspiration on how you can mobilize a mass group of community members to come out, knock on doors and inspire others who had never previously seen themselves reflected in politics or government.”

On Wednesday, Morales appears to have a decent shot of notching a political upset that would rival Mamdani’s stunning achievement — and the three-term state lawmaker has relied on a very similar playbook.

The 27-year-old democratic socialist has run a campaign sharply focused on one major problem: exorbitant housing costs in the city of nearly 200,000 residents. A 2025 study by the real estate listing company Redfin found Providence had the least affordable rental market in the country, with the average cost of an apartment topping $2,000 per month while the median income for renters was roughly $50,000.

“We never made up for the 2008, 2009 economic crash. We lost years of housing development then,” said Rachel Miller, the outgoing president of the Providence City Council who’s backing Morales. Miller also pointed to an influx of people from Boston and New York during the pandemic and NIMBY opposition to development as factors driving up costs.

Morales has proposed establishing a rent-regulation system that would cap annual increases at 4 percent and wants it to be enacted within his first 100 days of taking office.

Mayor Brett Smiley vetoed a similar proposal passed by the Council earlier this year. His campaign says there’s a simple reason for that: It’s an ineffective way to make housing more affordable. “Cities across the country that have tried rent control have consistently seen it backfire, hurting those it was meant to help and only worsening the affordability crisis,” said Josh Block, a campaign spokesperson, in a statement to Playbook.

Instead, Smiley’s campaign highlights other efforts to expand housing production and assist renters facing eviction. That includes a referendum on the November ballot to determine if the city should borrow $25 million to create more affordable housing.

Smiley isn't the only incumbent at risk of being tossed out by Rhode Island voters in Wednesday's primary — just the latest sign that the electorate is broadly unhappy with current leaders. Democratic Gov. Dan McKee is widely expected to be ousted by Helena Foulkes, with the three most recent polls showing the challenger with at least a 20 percentage point lead, in part due to widespread anger over a delayed bridge repair project.

Socialist blueprint

Morales is part of a growing group of left-leaning campaigns looking to import the Mamdani model to races around the country and globe, according to Grace Mausser, co-chair of the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, whose organizing expertise was essential to the mayor’s successful campaign.

According to Mausser, who helped host a July fundraiser for Morales in Brooklyn, there are a few key ingredients to success.

First, get broad buy-in. For the DSA, that means holding a vote about who to endorse to ensure a critical mass of supporters.

Second, give volunteers more autonomy than typically granted in a traditional campaign, allowing them to lead canvasses and craft messaging.

“What we teach is: In order to do as much work as needs to be done for outsider candidates, for non-mainstream, non-establishment candidates to win, you have to sacrifice some control for scale,” she said. “To me, that means empowering and trusting volunteers.”

Third, create a fun and welcoming environment for volunteers, including social events after a shift, which she said brings a sense of community to the work and allows canvassers to compare notes.

Taken together, a successful canvassing operation can pay dividends to the rest of the campaign. Think talent cultivation, granular information about voters’ opinions and connecting face-to-face with others who might want to help.

In addition to the connection with Morales’ team, Mausser said NYC-DSA has been talking with other chapters in Seattle and Detroit about organizing. The group has been working with a left-leaning political party in Germany as well. And Mausser traveled to Spain this summer to talk shop with an organization in Barcelona.

“They wanted to learn about our model, how it works and, perhaps, how it could be modified and adapted for Spanish politics,” she said.

Down to the wire

Back in Providence, it’s unclear whether Morales’ canvassing operation, which says it has knocked on nearly 80,000 doors, will be enough — especially given that Smiley enjoys a massive financial advantage.

Polling suggests the race will be close — although it’s hard to say how much stock should be put in what limited surveys exist. The only public polls were commissioned by Democrats for Education Reform, which is led by former Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza, who’s backing Morales. The first survey, conducted in July, showed Smiley leading by 4 percentage points. The second, conducted in August, found Morales leading by 10 percentage points.

Smiley’s campaign believes the involvement of New York political figures could prove a liability for the challenger, pointing to a comment made by one speaker at the Brooklyn fundraiser that Providence would be a “laboratory for municipal socialism.”

“There has been substantial backlash to these remarks from residents who do not want to see David Morales use Providence as a science lab on behalf of his national backers or as a stepping stone to a national profile for himself,” Block said.

Both sides have expressed optimism about the turnout for early voting, which started Aug. 20. The Democratic victor is widely expected to prevail in November in the deep blue city.

“We feel very confident,” said Ben Shanahan, Morales’ campaign manager, who previously led Tiffany Cabán’s successful 2021 New York City Council bid and volunteered for Mamdani’s campaign. “We feel like David’s message is one that resonates in every neighborhood of Providence.”

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