A majority of Democratic voters in Providence, Rhode Island, signaled support for aggressive rent regulation by voting for state Rep. David Morales over incumbent Mayor Brett Smiley in Wednesday's primary election.
Morales, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (who nevertheless did not receive the local chapter's endorsement in the primary), ran on a progressive housing policy platform that called for capping rents at 4 percent annually and limiting corporate ownership of housing.
