David Cicilline
David Nicola Cicilline (/sɪsɪˈliːni/ sih-sih-LEE-nee; born July 15, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Rhode Island's 1st congressional district from 2011 to 2023.[1] A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 36th mayor of Providence from 2003 to 2011, the first openly gay mayor of a U.S. state capital.[2][3]
David Cicilline
Himself
Cheri Bustos
Hakeem Jeffries
Cicilline chaired the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law. In this role, he has supported efforts to modernize antitrust law.[4] On September 29, 2022, he was elected chair of the House Middle East, North Africa, and Global Counterterrorism subcommittee,[5] succeeding Ted Deutch, who resigned from the House on September 30, 2022.[6] In November 2022, Cicilline announced he would run against outgoing Majority Whip Leader Jim Clyburn as Assistant Democratic Leader, the fourth senior position in the Democratic House caucus.[7] Cicilline later dropped his bid for assistant minority leader.[8]
In February 2023, Cicilline announced his resignation from Congress, effective June 1, 2023, to become president and chief executive officer of the Rhode Island Foundation.[9][10][11]
Early life, education, and legal career[edit]
Cicilline was born July 15, 1961, in Providence, Rhode Island. His mother, Sabra (née Peskin), is Jewish, and his father, John Francis "Jack" Cicilline, is Italian American and Catholic.[12][13][2] His father was a prominent attorney in Providence who defended local Mafia figures in the 1970s and 1980s, and was an aide to Mayor Joseph A. Doorley Jr.[14]
He was raised in Providence before moving to Narragansett. In high school, he served as president of his graduating class, and participated in the Close Up Washington civic education program before attending Brown University, where he established a branch of the College Democrats with his classmate John F. Kennedy Jr. He graduated magna cum laude with a degree in political science in 1983. He then went to Georgetown University Law Center, where he earned a J.D.
He remained in Washington, D.C. for a while to work as a lawyer at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia.
In 1992, he ran for the Rhode Island Senate against incumbent senator Rhoda Perry, but lost the Democratic primary. Two years later, he was elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives, representing the 4th district on Providence's East Side.[15]