Rhode Island projected to send its 1st person of color to Congress

Voters in Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District headed to the polls on Tuesday to cast their ballot in a special election.

ABC News projects that the winner is Democratic candidate Gabe Amo, who formerly served as President Joe Biden’s deputy director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Amo, the son of West African immigrants, will become the first person of color from Rhode Island to be sent to Congress. He campaigned on issues such as abortion access, combating climate change and banning assault-style weapons.

The race was held to fill the vacancy left by now-former Reo, David Cicilline, a Democrat, who resigned in June to become the CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation.

Amo faced Republican Gerry Leonard, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and political newcomer.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday night, Amo said his victory was tied to his background, family and his own and others’ history.

“I went to vote with my mom earlier today. And when I was 8 years old helping my mother study for the citizenship test, I never could have imagined that I would go with her to cast her ballot to vote for her son for the United States Congress,” he said to cheers.

State significance

The Ocean State sends just two representatives to Congress, and Democrats have held these U.S. House seats since the mid-1990s.

Cicilline, whose vacancy is being filled, won big in his reelection in the 2022 midterms. Amo was largely considered to be the front-runner in the heavily blue district after prevailing in a very crowded special Democratic primary that included 12 candidates.

Rhode Island is the country's least populous state to have two members in the U.S. House of Representatives. However, this could change following the 2030 census and congressional reapportionment. The American Redistricting Project forecasts that Rhode Island will lose their second seat in the House.

ABC News' Isabella Murray and Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.