Taveras wins Providence mayoral race

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Democrat Angel Taveras has been voted the next mayor of Providence, beating out independent Jonathan Scott.

Taveras, who made his acceptance speech Tuesday night in both England and Spanish, became Providence's first Hispanic person to hold the office..

• For more coverage of the polling results, click here .

Taveras, an attorney and former city housing judge, will take over for outgoing Mayor David Cicilline. Cicilline beat state Rep. John Loughlin in the race for Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District.

"As goes Providence, so goes Rhode Island," Taveras told supporters in his victory acceptance speech. "Together we can make Providence and the state of Rhode Island into national examples of what is possible when people work together toward common goals."

Taveras is the son of Dominican immigrants who grew up in the city's impoverished South Side. He worked his way up from a Head Start program to Harvard and then to Georgetown University's law school.

Taveras ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1999.

Other Mayoral Races

Cranston Mayor Allan Fung defeated his Democratic challenger Richard Tomlins by a wide margin, as did Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian, who defeated Democrat John Kirby.

Mayor Joseph Polisena defeated two challengers in his reelection bid, and Mayor Daniel McKee defeated David Iwuc in Cumberland.