Election 2022: DaSilva reelected E. Providence mayor

EAST PROVIDENCE – Bob DaSilva, who became the first person elected mayor in the city, has won a second term in office after soundly defeating challenger John Rossi in Tuesday’s general election.

DaSilva secured another four-year term after garnering 60 percent of the vote to Rossi’s 39 percent with all 17 polling places counted, according to the Board of Elections. DaSilva and Rossi advanced to the general election after coming in first and second respectively in a four-person primary in September.

This was only the second election cycle in which voters had the chance to choose a mayor for Rhode Island’s fifth-largest city. In 2016, they overwhelmingly approved a restructuring of the East Providence government, from one centered around a city manager appointed by the City Council to one headed by an elected mayor. In the old form of government, the council elected one of its own members as “mayor” to preside over council meetings, but the title was ceremonial. 

In making the change, East Providence adopted the structure of Rhode Island’s other big cities: Providence, Warwick, Cranston and Pawtucket.

In 2018, the city held its first election for mayor. DaSilva was the top vote-getter in the primary and went on to win the general election over lawyer James Russo.

DaSilva, a former captain in the Pawtucket Police Department and state representative, has argued for continuity in his bid for a second term, saying the city will benefit from keeping him in office.

Rossi, a retired police officer who was in his first race for mayor, had made the preservation of Metacomet Golf Course as green space a priority. He also raised concerns about the use of traffic speed cameras, contending that they’re aimed not so much at getting drivers to slow down as making money for the city. 

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: DaSilva reelected Eeast Providence mayor in 2022 election