Jorge Elorza, former Providence mayor, endorses Morales over Smiley 51%
By Wheeler Cowperthwaite37%
8/3/2026, 2:53:00 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 18 faulty reasoning types, including Framing Effect, Availability Heuristic, and Appeal to Authority, with Self-Serving Bias as the most egregious example at 15.8% saturation with 115 hits. Analysis detected 1,163 faulty-reasoning hits from 728 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 44.6% and a BS Rank of 51% (13,253 of 26,881 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 50.70% of the article peer group.
PROVIDENCE – Former mayor Jorge Elorza endorsed David Morales for Providence mayor in the race against incumbent Mayor Brett Smiley.
"I see a man who is not afraid to dream about a better world," Elorza said, praising Morales.
"He wants to make the city affordable for all of its residents, building new housing, providing supports.
He wants to make the city safe for all of its residents."
Elorza said a pledge to keep Police Chief Oscar Perez and to hire a public safety commissioner is encouraging.
Like Morales, Elorza banged on the affordability drum, claiming that in the few years between when he left office in 2023 (after defeating Mayor Vincent “Buddy” Cianci in 2015), Providence has increasingly become a home "only for the wealthy and well-connected elites" who own and "second and third homes to come and go."
Elorza was term limited in office.
"But I see our city as so much more than that, so much more than a plaything for the credentialed class," Elorza said.
Elorza made the endorsement with Morales at Julianna's restaurant in Silver Lake, in Elorza's neighborhood.
Elorza endorsed Gonzalo Cuervo in the 2022 primary election, which Smiley won with 42% of the vote over Cuervo.
He said he endorsed Cuervo, over Smiley and Nirva LaFortune, because Cuervo at the time promised movement on rent stabilization.
Morales has focused much of his campaign on efforts to pass rent stabilization in the city and housing affordability.
Smiley vetoed a rent stabilization measure passed by the City Council.
It didn't have enough votes to overcome the veto.
Elorza said Morales is for voters who want the city to head in a new direction.
"This election is a referendum on who gets to enjoy being part of this amazing city that we call home.
And it is clear that David Morales is the leader who will fight to make sure there is room for all of us," Elorza said.
Elorza said, in Spanish, that he is endorsing Morales because as a young man, he and his family couldn't live in today's Providence, as housing costs have gone up so much.
Elorza moved back to Providence after first working at PricewaterhouseCoopers, the prestigious accounting firm in New York, and subsequently getting his law degree from Harvard Law School.
When he moved back to Rhode Island initially, it was to work as an attorney for Rhode Island Legal Services, a nonprofit that provides legal services to "low-income individuals" dealing with housing, consumer debt, foreclosure and other issues.
Charter school position
Elorza now heads a group called Democrats for Education Reform, which advocates for charter schools and during his tenure as mayor, he championed them, as well as the state takeover of the Providence schools.
Morales, as a state representative, voted for a moratorium on new charter schools, a measure that Gov.
Dan McKee signed.
"All that I have asked for him is, first and foremost, that he continue fighting for the kids, the families and the kids in the city of Providence, and that we have open lines of communication so I can share with him the latest trends and how to deliver progressive values that deliver the needs of kids and families throughout the country," Elorza answered when asked how he could work for charter school advocates while endorsing a candidate who voted to stop new ones.
Morales said it would be his responsibility to keep supporting the existing charter schools "while making sure that our traditional public schools are receiving the support that they're going to need to be ready for the next academic year."
Morales previously worked for Achievement First, a charter school network.
Asked when his thinking on charter schools changed, Morales said the moratorium "is happening during a period in which we are transitioning back to local control" of Providence schools.
"I believe that we need to be very cognizant about stability around year-to-year funding and considering the fact that we have seen certain growths in charter schools in the past that have resulted in less resources for some of our traditional schools," Morales said.
"I believe that this new moratorium is allowing us as a city to ensure that as we transition back into local control and making the necessary investments so we're able to improve the quality of our public schools."
Speakers
3speakers69%attributed speech225writer words
Selected voice
100%flagged-word coverageJorge Elorza
350 attributed words70% of attributed speech60% writer coverage
Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.
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Analysis
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