A young democratic socialist state legislator makes a bid for city hall. The insurgent’s agenda identifies affordable housing as the central issue. The leftist lends theatrical flair to his campaign. 

The stage is a bit smaller—the population of Providence, Rhode Island, is just under 200,000—but David Morales is taking the baton from Zohran Mamdani. Instead of lyrical dexterity, Morales is known for his aerial takedowns.  

First elected as a Rhode Island state representative in 2020, Morales turns 28 one week after the Democratic primary on September 9. He is attempting to unseat Brett Smiley, a corporate Dem in his first term. Smiley recently vetoed legislation aimed at implementing rent stabilization in Providence—and, if elected, Morales vows to push it forward. 

In mid-May, the Indypendent sat down with Morales at a downtown Providence café, where the upbeat candidate energetically explained the issues and mapped out his battle plan. Soon after announcing his mayoral bid last September, Morales noted, he brought a team of volunteers down to Astoria in order to knock on doors for Mamdani—and learn about Zohran for NYC’s organizing model. A recent Data for Progress poll showed the leftist candidate with an 11-point lead in the September showdown. 

Morales’ family came to the U.S. from Monterrey, Mexico, and he was raised by his mother in Soledad, California, near Salinas. While raising David and his older sister, she worked in fields picking fruits and vegetables by day and as a cashier at convenience stores by night. 

Morales wrestled in high school, although it was the traditional type. “For the record, they’re both real,” he says with a laugh, contrasting the amateur sport to the WWE variety. The latter may be scripted, but there is indeed plenty of athleticism. 

Not making his high school varsity squads in either wrestling or baseball proved fortuitous for Morales, because he started taking college courses at night and joined the debating team. He took a particular interest in the minimum wage because of his mother’s economic hardship.

David volunteered for Bernie Sanders’ 2016 campaign, making phone calls to East Coast voters before his high school classes began. Sanders recently joined Rep. Ro Khanna and former Rep. Jamaal Bowman in endorsing Morales.  

When he came to Providence in the fall of 2018 (in order to pursue a Masters in Public Administration from Brown University), Morales joined the local DSA chapter. The group backed his successful 2020 run for the state legislature. Since 2022 the chapter no longer supports candidates in Democratic primaries, but Morales says that “several” DSA members are currently volunteering for his campaign. 

Word around town is that Morales is a fixture on the music scene. “I go to a lot of concerts but avoid the mosh pit,” he says, although he acknowledges that a wrestling ring is a similar setting. Back in Soledad, Morales recalls, “I was a really avid WWE watcher. My hero was Rey Mysterio,” the Southern California-born son of Mexican immigrants who pays homage to the lucha libre tradition.

Aficionados of pro wrestling and politics may connect Morales to Super Barrio, a leading leftist activist in Mexico during the 1990s. In 1998, former WWE star Jesse Ventura famously waged a successful grassroots campaign for Minnesota governor. 

In 2021, as things began to open up after the pandemic, the Providence-based Renegade Wrestling Alliance hosted shows in Morales’ district. The legislator reached out to a promoter who proposed that a villain body-slam David while talking smack about Providence. Thus began a four-year partnership between Morales and the RWA. 

Morales eagerly took classes in Worcester and participated in RWA events on a monthly basis until announcing his “semi-retirement” to run for mayor last September. After winning the RWA’s title belt in spring 2023, Morales says that he created a “new rule” requiring the champion to carry the belt wherever he went, which in his case included the statehouse. 

Our conversation shifted back to the campaign, but as he got up to leave, I asked Morales when he planned to return the ring. “I just did,” he replied, pulling up a dazzling Instagram clip from his cellphone that showed him flying about in an orange business suit at a May 1 wrestling/burlesque event. “I’m just happy I didn’t throw my back out,” he said. 

For more details on Morales’ agenda, check out his recent discussion with The Dig’s Daniel Denvir (go to 1:27:00 here).

Ted Hamm’s Meet Mayor Mamdani is now available from OR Books. Indy readers can use the code Indy15 for a 15% discount through May 31. 

The Indypendent is a New York City-based newspaper, website and weekly radio show. All of our work is made possible by readers like you. Please consider making a recurring or one-time donation today or subscribe to our monthly print edition and get every copy sent straight to your home.