Mayoral Primary Remains Too Close to Call

*UPDATE: Brett Smiley pulls out - now supporting Jorge Elorza

Jorge Elorza Vs. Michael Solomon Vs. Brett Smiley

If the Providence mayoral race were a movie, you’d be hard pressed to figure out who is going to emerge as the leading man or how the darn thing is going to turn out. Polls are showing the race close, but with numbers changing daily. The gloves are off and the swings have begun in earnest between Jorge Elorza, Brett Smiley and Michael Solomon as charges and countercharges flow among them. The risk is that an ugly knock-out or TKO will place the winner at a significant disadvantage when the real heavyweight battle begins between the primary winner, Republican Dan Harrop and the defending former champion, Independent Buddy Cianci.

Meanwhile, Cianci has been unusually quiet watching the show and raising an impressive amount of money in his first weeks after his announcement. However, no one is taking Buddy lightly. While November seems light years away, all polls show Cianci will be solid opponent regardless of the challenger. The city has changed dramatically since Buddy was last in office, but counter balancing that is that most polls show that 57% of the people believe that the city is headed in the wrong direction.

Solomon, as a City Councilor and now City Council President, argues that he is the only candidate with the experience and knowledge to run the city day one. Smiley and Elorza have provided positioning papers, ideas and plans that could fill a library pas- sionately argue that the city needs outside leadership and a new vision.

Click through the candidates (below) to find out more...