Cicilline Wins Reelection to Congress

Cicilline Wins Reelection to Congress

The controversial Democratic Congressman who once had one of the lowest approval ratings in the history of Congress has won reelection. David Cicilline won 64 percent.

Cicilline beat back Republican candidate Russell Taub.

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Cicilline, who served two terms as Mayor of Providence after first being elected in 2002, was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2010. 

In 2012, a GoLocal analysis found that Cicilline's challenge to win re-election was steep. In the primary he defeated Democrat Anthony Gemma and then beat back-then GOP candidate Brendan Doherty to retain his seat. In 2014, Cicilline has a surprisingly close primary challenge by Matt Fecteau and then beat Taub in the General.

As GoLocal wrote in 2012: Political experts say they can’t remember a time when an elected official had lower approval ratings than freshman Congressman David Cicilline, whose job rating plummeted to 14.8 percent in a Brown University poll released Thursday.

Cicilline, who served as Mayor of Providence for eight years prior to heading to Washington, has seen his first-term in Congress marred by revelations of severe financial problems in the capital city. Mayor Angel Taveras, who inherited a $110 million structural deficit, has threatened that the city may be forced to file for bankruptcy.

Jennifer Duffy, senior editor for the Cook Political Report, said the most striking thing about Cicilline’s approval rating is that such dismal numbers are normally reserved for members of Congress who find themselves under indictment or involved in a “huge scandal.” She pointed to former Florida Congressman Mark Foley, who was forced to resign after he allegedly sent lewd instant messages to Congressional pages.

“We can’t think of an incumbent that has survived [with such low numbers,]” Duffy said. “I really think Cicilline's problems are largely driven but what's going on in Providence. Every time the Mayor (Taveras) has to do something, it reflects on him (Cicilline).”