Former Biden aide Gabe Amo wins House special election in Rhode Island

Democrat Gabe Amo won a special congressional election in Rhode Island on Tuesday, NBC News projects, defeating Republican Gerry Leonard to become the first person of color elected to represent his state in Congress.

The special election was held to replace former Rep. David Cicilline, a Democrat who stepped down this year to take a job running Rhode Island's largest philanthropic organization.

Amo, a former White House official in the Biden and Obama administrations, was heavily favored in the deep blue Providence-area district after he came out on top in a crowded Democratic primary in September.

Amo positioned himself as the moderate in the primary against a Bernie Sanders-backed progressive. He leaned heavily into his ties to the current and former presidents, running ads that featured photographs of him meeting with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office and saying Biden and former President Barack Obama trusted him, so Rhode Islanders should, too.

Amo, a first-time candidate, grew up in the working-class city of Pawtucket, the child of Ghanaian and Liberian immigrants who run a liquor store. He portrayed his Washington career and his hometown congressional candidacy as a quintessential American Dream success story.

Amo represents a newer generation of arrivals taking their places in the hierarchy of a heavily Democratic state, which has long been defined by its Irish and Italian Catholic immigrant communities. Observers noted the break from Rhode Island history when the leading candidates in the Democratic primary included Amo, the state’s Afro-Latina lieutenant governor, a Latina state senator and a Jewish former state representative.

Leonard, a political newcomer and former Marine colonel who retired in 2019 after tours in multiple conflict zones, struggled to gain traction in a district that has not elected a Republican since 1992.

He raised only about $165,000 during his campaign and kicked in $100,000 more himself, while Amo pulled in more than $1 million, according to the latest campaign finance reports. National partisan groups stayed out of the race, given the lopsided odds favoring Amo.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com