September 7th 2023.
Gabe Amo, a former White House aide born to Ghanaian and Liberian immigrants, has won the Democratic primary for the First District of Rhode Island. This comes after the seat was left vacant by former Democratic Rep. David Cicilline in May. Amo will face Marine veteran Gerry Leonard Jr., who won the GOP primary and is endorsed by the Rhode Island GOP, in the general election on Nov. 7.
If Amo wins, he will become the first Black person to represent Rhode Island in Congress. The First District covers the eastern part of the Ocean State, including north and east Providence, Pawtucket, and Portsmouth. It's a deep-blue district, and a Republican hasn't held the seat since 1995. Cicilline easily retained his seat for a seventh term last fall, winning by 28 points.
Amo has quite the political background. He has worked for the Obama administration in the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and also worked in the Biden administration and for former Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo as her director of public engagement and community affairs. According to the Providence Journal, Amo said he served as “Raimondo’s principal advisor on outreach to businesses and labor, faith groups, local government, grassroots organizations, and communities of color.”
Amo has been endorsed by several state Democrats, including former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, who represented the First District for eight terms before Cicilline. He has also been endorsed by the Congressional Black Caucus. Amo, a Wheaton College and Oxford University alum, has prioritized preventing gun violence during his campaign, saying that during his White House tenure, he was often “the first to call a Mayor following a mass shooting.”
If Amo is victorious, Rhode Island will become the latest addition to a list of states that have never had a Black person represent it in Congress. This list includes Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Oregon.
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