Amo wins Democratic primary for RI's CD1 seat. Here are the results

Former White House staffer Gabe Amo, who was hardly a household name when he entered the race earlier this year, claimed a decisive and historic victory in the crowded Democratic primary in Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District early on Tuesday night.

WPRI and the Associated Press called the race for Amo at 8:36 p.m., less than an hour after polls closed.

If he goes on to win the general election as expected, Amo stands to be the first person of color elected to represent Rhode Island in Congress.

"I don't have a lot of words," Amo, a 35-year-old Pawtucket native, told his cheering supporters at The Guild in Pawtucket on Tuesday. "This primary election showed that Rhode Islanders believe in a state where one of their sons, the son of two West African immigrants from Ghana and Liberia ... [can] receive the love and the investments of a community and go from serving the president of the United States, briefing in the Oval Office, to being the Democratic nominee for Congress in the 1st Congressional District."

"And it's not lost on me that I stand on the shoulders of giants, of so many who [paved] the road before me ... so I could stand here today."

As the race was called, Amo's father, also named Gabriel Amo, jumped up and down with joy. The candidate wrapped his mother in a tight embrace before heading to the podium to speak.

What were the results of the special election primary?

With 85% of polling places reporting as of 10:26 p.m., Amo had 32.5% of the vote. In second place was former state Rep. Aaron Regunberg with 24.9% of the vote, followed by state Sen. Sandra Cano at 13.9%.

Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos had 8% of the vote. Behind her, state Rep. Stephen Casey had 5.9% of the vote, and former Naval War College professor Walter Berbrick had 3.6% of the vote.

State Sen. Ana Quezada had 3.4% of the vote. Providence City Councilman John Goncalves was at 2.8%.

Don Carlson, who dropped out of the race just nine days before Election Day, had 1.8% of the vote. Former Republican Allen Waters had 1.3% of the vote.

IT professional Stephanie Beauté was at 1.1%. In last place, former state Rep. Spencer Dickinson had 0.9% of the vote.

Regunberg, who had been considered the frontrunner, delivered his concession speech at the Wild Colonial in Providence shortly after 9 p.m. “We stood up for a better world,” he said, thanking his wife, campaign team and supporters.

Who won the Republican primary?

In the less-crowded Republican primary, political newcomer and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Gerry Leonard had 75.8% of the vote. Former Middletown Town Councilwoman Terri Flynn had 24.2% of the vote. The Associated Press called the race for Leonard at 8:19 p.m.

Democrats have held the 1st District seat since Republican Ronald Machtley stepped down in 1995.

Turnout somewhat higher than expected

Tuesday's special election was prompted by U.S. Rep. David Cicilline's decision to resign from Congress earlier this year and take the helm of the Rhode Island Foundation. With the race taking place during an off-year, pundits predicted extremely low turnout.

However, the number of voters who showed up to the polls on Tuesday turned out to be higher than many expected — if still lower than a typical year. By 7:30 p.m., over 40,000 people had cast votes in the special primaries. (Elections for State Senate District 1 and a Foster Town Council seat also took place on Tuesday.) By contrast, more than 56,000 people voted in the Democratic primary in the 2nd Congressional District last year.

Between Democrats and Republicans, more than 8,200 voters cast ballots during the early voting period, according to the Secretary of State's unofficial turnout tracker. As of 7:30 p.m., the Board of Elections had received over 5,300 mail ballots. And the majority of voters — more than 27,000 — cast their ballots in person on Election Day.

The 1st Congressional District covers the eastern half of the state, including parts of Providence. As of 7:30 p.m., Providence had the highest overall turnout, followed by East Providence, Pawtucket, Cumberland and Barrington.

In several communities — Bristol, Lincoln, Middletown, Newport, Portsmouth, Tiverton, Warren and Woonsocket — turnout as of 7:30 p.m. was actually slightly higher than when Cicilline last ran for re-election in 2022. (Cicilline did not have a Democratic primary rival that year, but there was a competitive primary in the governor’s race.)

Amo won every city and town in the district except for three: Central Falls, which went for Cano; Woonsocket, which went for hometown candidate Casey; and Providence, which Regunberg won by about 400 votes. Some of his strongest pockets of support were found in the wealthy communities of Barrington and Little Compton.

How a first-time candidate emerged as the winner

On the campaign trail, Amo emphasized his humble roots — his father owns a liquor store and his mother is a nurse — as well as his high-level experience working in the Obama and Biden administrations, and for former Gov. Gina Raimondo.

Though not well known outside political circles when he entered the race, he had the benefit of powerful connections and strong local roots. A graduate of the Moses Brown School, he went on to attend Wheaton College and then received a Marshall Scholarship to study at Oxford University.

Amo also presented a more moderate alternative to Regunberg, a progressive Harvard Law School graduate who was considered the frontrunner right up until the time that the polls closed on Tuesday.

The 1st Congressional District is seen as a safely Democratic seat, and an unusually high number of candidates qualified for a spot on the primary ballot. Most had little to no name recognition, and Matos was seen as an early frontrunner because she was the only contender who had won a statewide race.

However, elections officials in Jamestown discovered in July that a woman working for Matos' campaign had submitted nomination papers that contained bogus signatures, prompting a criminal investigation and a series of bruising news cycles.

"While I was hoping for a different outcome, tonight’s results show that Rhode Islanders are ready for more diverse representation in Congress for the first time," Matos said in a statement on Tuesday night. "We can all celebrate and take pride in this historic milestone for our state. I congratulate Mr. Amo for his hard-fought victory in this crowded field."

Regunberg, who ran on a populist, anti-corporate message and got high-profile endorsements from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, emerged as the candidate to beat in the wake of Matos' signature scandal.

Then the field shifted once again when Carlson, an investor who had poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into his campaign, dropped out after WPRI revealed that he had been accused of inappropriate conduct when teaching at Williams College.

In the final weeks of the campaign, Amo made a compelling pitch to centrist Democrats, releasing an internal poll that showed that he was in second place to Regunberg.

That gambit — intended to send a message to the "anyone but Aaron" crowd, who wanted to avoid electing an anti-establishment progressive but weren't sure which of the other candidates to throw their support behind — worked exactly as intended.

In an interview with the Journal, Amo pushed back against the suggestion that his win was a victory for the establishment over the left.

"I'm the Democratic nominee right now, and I'm focused on how I reflect the values of the first Congressional district. Those are the values that I'm reflecting," Amo said. "From the beginning of this campaign I told my story. I said it in that first video that it was a Rhode Island story and a story that, I think, resonated across a lot of different people and a lot of different groups here in our state."

More: RI's short, crowded and, at times, strange special congressional election

Former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, who held the seat before Cicilline, stumped for Amo in the final weeks of the campaign.

Top elected Democrats such as Gov. Dan McKee, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, U.S. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed, and U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner all opted against issuing endorsements in the hotly-contested race — but many were quick to enthusiastically congratulate Amo on Tuesday night.

Magaziner attended Amo's election night watch party at The Guild, and was one of the first people to shake his hand after results were announced. "Could not be more thrilled to congratulate the next congressman from Rhode Island," Whitehouse chimed in on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. "Can’t wait to work with you again, this time as a colleague." (Amo worked on Whitehouse's first campaign for Senate.)

His cell phone lighting up with calls and texts, Amo received a call from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries a little after 9 pm.

Election dominated by push for diversity, and progressive representation

Amo was part of an unusually diverse group of candidates who entered the race for the open seat. Matos and Quezada are both immigrants from the Dominican Republic, while Cano came to the United States from Colombia. Goncalves frequently mentioned his mother, a Cape Verdean immigrant, on the campaign trail.

Outside groups hoping to elect a woman or a person of color poured money into the race, which mainly benefited Matos, though Amo also scored the endorsement of the Congressional Black Caucus PAC.

Cano, though not as well-funded as the other frontrunners, nevertheless put in a strong showing by racking up a wide array of endorsements from local elected officials throughout the district.

She managed to draw support from both the progressive and moderate wing of the Democratic party, including most of her colleagues in the state senate, and won over some voters who had supported Regunberg in past elections.

National progressive groups also saw an opportunity to notch a win and rallied behind Regunberg, who was frequently attacked by his opponents for his perceived privilege, especially after members of his family funded a super PAC on his behalf.

The race drew unusual national attention to a Rhode Island congressional race because of the narrative around a potential progressive victory and the fact that Utah was the only other state with a special election.

"I feel like I've been here before," Regunberg, who narrowly lost the lieutenant governor's race in 2018, joked before launching into his concession speech on Tuesday night.

Regunberg said that his congressional run meant someone was standing up for health care as a right, for children and against the fossil fuel industry. He said that he, and his campaign, "stayed above the fray and focused on the issues that matter."

While he is heartbroken, he said, he is still hopeful and looking forward to future possibilities. Next week, he will start a new job as the senior climate policy advisor for Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group, which will let him remain in Rhode Island.

In an interview after his speech, Regunberg said he never knew where he was in the polls, because there weren't any.

"I am thankful to all that are here," Amo told supporters on Tuesday night. "I am thankful for those who are not in this room, who I'm going to spend the next several weeks talking to, encouraging to vote in November because the work is just beginning and I'm glad you're part of this ride."

With reports from Patrick Anderson, Katherine Gregg and Wheeler Cowperthwaite.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI special election results: 1st Congressional District