Freshening New England’s armpit

THERE was little doubt what the answer would be when Vincent “Buddy” Cianci, Providence’s longest-serving-mayor-turned-radio-host, asked his listeners whether he should he run again. The response, as he put it, was “a love fest”. Mr Cianci declared his candidacy on his show on June 25th. “The fire still burns,” he said.

Mr Cianci’s previous stints as mayor ended badly. In 1984, after a decade on the job, he had to resign when he was convicted of assaulting a man with a cigarette, an ashtray and a log. In 1990 he convinced voters to give him another shot, and did much to spruce up the city centre. But in 2002 he was brought down by a federal racketeering probe that landed him in prison for nearly five years. To add insult to injury, a musical based on his life premiered off-Broadway in 2003, featuring catchy numbers like “The Ass You Have to Kiss Today” and “The Armpit of New England” (an unkind reference to Providence).

Mr Cianci lost his liberty and his toupee, but he bounced back, writing a book, “Politics and Pasta”, launching his own marinara sauce and using his radio programme to discuss the city’s concerns. Alas, his devoted listeners cannot all vote: many live in the suburbs. And the city is much changed: many of Mr Cianci’s supporters have died or moved. Latinos now make up nearly 40% of the population. “We have a much larger population of young artists and professionals who have little sympathy for old-school ward politics but who, with many Latinos as neighbours, live exactly in Cianci’s former strongholds,” says Anthony Affigne, a political scientist at Providence College. Asked if Mr Cianci should run again, Michael Townsend, an artist, says: “No, no, no, absolutely not.”

Mr Cianci, an ex-Republican, is running as an independent. His prospects depend on who his Democratic opponent is, says Wendy Schiller of Brown University. Brett Smiley, a quirky technocrat, would grab some of his union supporters. (Mr Cianci was generous to the police and fire fighters when he was mayor.) Jorge Elorza, a Latino, would win Latinos, whom Mr Cianci courted during his last run.

Even Mr Cianci’s critics concede that he loves Providence and wants it to do well. But his reputation could deter businesses from moving to the city, which was once known as the “beehive of industry”. Not all comebacks are welcome.