The new congressman from Rhode Island’s 1st District is Democrat David Cicilline, the former mayor of Providence who won the seat of retiring Democratic Rep. Patrick Kennedy. Read More

The new congressman from Rhode Island’s 1st District is Democrat David Cicilline, the former mayor of Providence who won the seat of retiring Democratic Rep. Patrick Kennedy.

Cicilline (sis-ih-LEE-nee) was born in Providence, the middle of five children. His parents eloped when his mother was 16 and his father 17, which caused some tension between the two families. His mother is Jewish and his father is Catholic, and Cicilline grew up celebrating the traditions of both religions. He now identifies as Jewish. His father was a criminal defense attorney whose clients included suspected members of organized crime. Cicilline told National Journal, “My father was very clear about explaining to us that in our country, everyone has a right to representation and our system of justice depends on that.” He was interested in politics from a young age. When he was 10, he wrote letters to his elected representatives when he had something on his mind, and at 14, he had his parents drop him off at city council meetings so he could participate in the public comment period. In high school, Cicilline wanted to study Italian, but his school did not offer it. He did some research and discovered an obscure state law requiring schools to offer a language course if eight or more students expressed interest. He submitted a list of interested students to the school board, obliging the school to hire an Italian teacher. In his high school years, he led a successful campaign against development on a parcel of land, even though the developer was his father’s friend.

Cicilline attended Brown University, where he majored in political science and founded, along with classmate John F. Kennedy Jr., a chapter of the College Democrats. He was active in student government and worked two jobs waiting tables. Cicilline came out as gay in college and says he was fortunate to have a supportive family. “I had a very different experience than, unfortunately, most LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) kids have,” he said. After getting a law degree from Georgetown University, he remained in Washington to work as a public defender for juveniles. In addition to defending the youths in court, Cicilline sometimes enrolled them in school, substance-abuse treatment, and other support services.

He returned to Rhode Island to campaign for the state Senate. He lost that bid, but ran for the state House two years later and won. In the legislature, he supported a variety of liberal policies. He pushed to raise the legal age to buy a gun from 13 to 18, introduced a bill creating a needle exchange program for drug users, and fought attempts to restrict abortion rights.

After four two-year terms, Cicilline ran for mayor of Providence in 2002. He campaigned as a reformer, promising to clean up the city after the 21-year reign of Buddy Cianci, who was convicted of corruption and resigned. Cicilline beat several other prominent politicians in the Democratic primary with 53% of the vote. He went on to win the general election in a landslide, becoming the first openly gay mayor of a state capital city. In office, Cicilline sought to end cronyism in the police department and expanded after-school programs. But as the city’s revenue shriveled in the recession, he laid off nearly 500 city employees and raised property taxes. Cicilline also served as president of the National Conference of Democratic Mayors.

When Kennedy announced he would not seek re-election in 2010, national Democrats were intent on holding the seat, having lost the Senate seat of the late Edward Kennedy, the incumbent’s father, in Massachusetts earlier in 2010. In the primary, Cicilline defeated businessman Anthony Gemma, state Rep. David Segal, and former state party Chairman Bill Lynch for the nomination, winning 37% of the vote. In the general-election, Cicilline campaigned as a pragmatist focused on creating jobs. His Republican opponent, state Rep. John Loughlin, emphasized the state’s economic condition and said he would balance the budget. Cicilline raised $1.7 million, easily outpacing Loughlin, and won 50.6% to 44.6%, with an independent candidate collecting 4%. It was an unusually close outcome in the heavily Democratic district, and a testament to the strength of the Republican trend in 2010. Kennedy won nearly all of his races by wide margins.

When he took office in January 2011, Cicilline became the fourth openly gay member of Congress.