In a surprise upset in Rhode Island’s special primary for an open seat in U.S. Congress, a former White House aide to both the Biden and Obama administrations clinched the Democratic win in a crowded contest for an open seat unexpectedly left behind by one of the most liberal congressmen to serve in Washington politics.
Out of the 11 Democrats vying for the 1st Congressional District seat, Gabriel Amo pulled out in front of frontrunner Aaron Regunberg, showing an 8 percent lead over the Bernie Sanders-backed 33-year-old with 90 percent of precincts reporting their voting results. Mr. Regunberg was also backed by U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
The 36-year-old Mr. Amo, son of Liberian immigrants, ran on a heavily-focused platform of gun control legislation. He worked as the deputy director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and special assistant to the president, essentially a liaison between President Joe Biden and locally-elected officials like mayors.
He held the same position under President Barack Obama. In Rhode Island, the underdog candidate worked as Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo’s principal adviser.
He was considered the least liberal of the left-wing lineup of Democratic candidates, with Mr. Regunberg being one of the most left-leaning out of the lot despite being denounced as not left enough by the Rhode Island Chapter of the Democrat Socialists of America.
Mr. Regunberg toted “I Stand With Planned Parenthood” signs during his campaign, and called for increased protection of the LGBT community and reform of the U.S. Supreme Court.
In endorsing Mr. Regunberg, Mr. Sanders talked about needing someone in Congress that would fight to break up monopolies, lower student loan debt, combat corporate greed, and advocate for solutions to climate change.
“We just don’t need another democratic vote in Congress. We need people who have the guts to take on powerful special interests and fight for the working class of this country,” said Mr. Sanders.
Mr. Amo replaces David Cicilline, who led a partisan push for a federal Transgender Bill of Rights in Congress last year.
Mr. Cicilline held the seat for eight years, but announced in February that he was stepping down to assume the job as president of the Rhode Island Foundation, the tiny New England state’s largest fundraising organization.
The district includes the opulent, mansion-riddled Newport, a Kennedy romping ground where Jackie Kennedy’s childhood home was dubbed the Summer White House during President John F. Kennedy’s administration.
Finishing an unexpected distance fourth from Mr. Amo was Rhode Island Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos, who was considered a close second to Mr. Regunberg.
Both she and Mr. Regunberg brought allegations of unethical campaign practices against one another in the final weeks of campaigning.
Mr. Regunberg is the subject of an active investigation into a $119,000 campaign contribution made by a super PAC created by his father-in-law.
Federal election laws prohibit candidates from soliciting more than $5,000 from super PACs. Mr. Regunberg has denied asking or even knowing about his father-in-law’s contribution.
Ms. Matos came under investigation after unauthorized signatures and signatures of dead people were found among the 1,526 signatures she garnered on her nomination papers.
Only two candidates competed on the Republican ticket for the seat.
GOP-endorsed Gerry Leonard, who served for 30 years in the U.S. Marines before retiring in 2019 as a colonel, took an early triple-digit lead over Terry Flynn, a former member of Middletown’s planning board and town council.
The 58-year-old father of four focused his campaign on ridding the nation of “Bidenomics” and lowering the national debt.
Mr. Leonard’s victory, however, is expected to be short-lived in Rhode Island, which is as politically blue as its nickname The Ocean State—although as Rhode Island attorney Allan Fung, speaking from personal experiences, told The Epoch Times, “you never know.”
Mr. Fung, who specializes in fiscal management and public policy law, grabbed national headlines during the 2022 midterm elections, when he almost became the first Republican New Englander sent to Washington in years when he ran in Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District.
He missed the considered-impossible victory by less than 4 percent of the vote.
While liberal views still dominate Rhode Island politics, Mr. Fung, who is Asian American, believes that a lean toward middle-of-the-road politics is starting to widen the narrow crack in the door to victory from longshot candidates.
Mr. Fung suspects a lower voter turnout for the special election, especially with it following the Labor Day weekend, and thus does not see election results as a true gauge of how Rhode Islanders are feeling.
Mr. Fung, the former mayor of Rhode Island’s second-largest city, also believes that the state’s active growth in ethnic diversity, especially in Hispanics, brings an uncertain, but key role, in election outcomes, with some Latino voters showing support for Republicans on moral issues while showing support for Democrats on economic ones.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Rhode Island’s Latino population rose 40 percent between 2010 and 2020.
Mr. Fung pointed out that Ms. Matos and state Sens. Sandra Cano and Ana Quezada—three of the Democratic contenders for Mr. Cicilline’s seat—are of Latin descent.
He believes Latino voters missed an opportunity to unite in the special election.
“If they had worked it out and been, you know, coalesced around one individual, that person would have run away from it, in my opinion,” he said.
Gary Sasse, who ran 2016 presidential hopeful Marc Rubio’s campaign in Rhode Island, told The Epoch Times he believes it’s more about party lines, saying he doesn’t believe “it makes a dime of a difference” if Democrat candidates have minor differences.
“Democrats are just more unified when it comes to elections, than Republicans,” said Mr. Sasse, who is also the founding director of the Hassenfeld Institute for Public Leadership at Bryant University, a top business college located in Rhode Island.
Should Rhode Island elect Mr. Leonard in the general election, he would join Maine Republican Susan Collins, who often votes with Democrats, as the only GOPer who represents the six states that make up New England in more than three decades.
