Rhode Island voters may make historical past Tuesday by electing the state’s first Black consultant to Congress or return the seat final held by Republicans within the Nineties to a GOP candidate.
Democrat Gabe Amo and Republican Gerry Leonard are vying for Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District seat. The winner will fill the workplace left vacant when former Democratic Rep. David Cicilline stepped down this summer to turn out to be president and CEO of the Rhode Island Basis.
Amo, 35, grew up in Pawtucket because the son of Ghanaian and Liberian immigrants. He emerged victorious from a crowded Democratic field within the September major, claiming greater than 32% of the vote.
The previous White Home aide served within the Obama and Biden administrations, most not too long ago as deputy director of the White Home Workplace of Intergovernmental Affairs. He additionally served within the administration of former Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo.
Amo, who went to Wheaton School and studied public coverage at Oxford College, has mentioned he was impressed by his dad and mom. His mom studied nursing and his father opened a liquor retailer partly to be his personal boss.
Amo mentioned he would combat in opposition to what he described as “extremist” Republican makes an attempt to slash funding for Social Safety and Medicare, work to legalize abortion rights nationwide and assist laws on the federal stage to fight local weather change. He additionally mentioned he would push to ban assault-style firearms, assist funding for analysis into gun violence prevention on the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, and implement common background checks.
His win would mark an ongoing transition from the state’s Italian-American political hierarchy, embodied by the late Vincent “Buddy” Cianci, Windfall’s charismatic longtime mayor who went to jail for corruption.
Leonard, a Marine veteran and political newcomer, is hoping to reclaim the seat for the GOP within the closely Democratic state. The final Republican to symbolize the district was Ron Machtley, who served from 1989-1995.
Leonard has mentioned he believes Individuals know how one can dwell their lives higher than bureaucrats {and professional} politicians do.
He has criticized “Bidenomics,” saying Democratic President Joe Biden’s financial plan hasn’t helped odd residents, and mentioned he favors a extra restricted authorities. He has additionally mentioned he would again U.S. efforts to assist Ukraine in its war against Russia however he thinks there ought to be clear objectives and an exit technique.
Leonard additionally mentioned he believes states ought to be liable for making legal guidelines on abortion, in keeping with the U.S. Supreme Court docket’s ruling final yr that overturned constitutional protections for abortion established in Roe v. Wade.
Leonard describes himself as a Thirteenth-generation Rhode Islander whose ancestors fled England to flee spiritual persecution. He attended public faculties and graduated from North Kingstown Excessive in 1983.
He moved on to a 30-year profession within the Marine Corps that included a number of abroad deployments — together with fight excursions in Kuwait, Somalia, Iraq, and Afghanistan — as an infantry and reconnaissance officer, Leonard mentioned. He lives in Jamestown and graduated from the Naval Struggle School.
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