Rhode Island Congressional District 1: Meet the candidates

Rhode Island's newest congressman, Rep. Gabe Amo, was officially been sworn last November, less than a week after winning the special election to replace former U.S. Rep. David Cicilline, who had stepped down to take a job as director of the Rhode Island Foundation.

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On the job for less than a year, Amo is already campaigning again, facing a challenge in the Nov. 5 General Election from Allen Waters, a Republican who also ran for the seat in last year's special election, though as a Democrat, and C.D. Reynolds, an Independent.

Gabe Amo

Gabe Amo is Rhode Island's first Black Congressman. His parents are immigrants from Ghana and Liberia, and he grew up in Pawtucket. He is a graduate of the Moses Brown School and Wheaton College, and then he received a Marshall Scholarship to study public policy at Oxford University.

A former Deputy Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Special Assistant to President Biden, Amo previously worked in the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, under President Obama, as a liaison to governors and state elected officials.

In between his Washington, D.C., stints, Amo returned to Rhode Island to serve as then-Gov. Gina Raimondo's "director of public engagement and community affairs." In that role, Amo said, he was "Raimondo’s principal advisor on outreach to businesses and labor, faith groups, local government, grassroots organizations, and communities of color."

Allen Waters

According to his campaign website, Waters is a fourth-generation resident of Providence, Waters graduated from Classical High School and received a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Rhode Island. He worked as an investment consultant with a number of firms, including Merrill Lynch, Charles Schwab, and TIAA-CREF. Waters has served on the boards of a number of organizations from the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society to South Providence Tutorial to Providence Country Day School.

A father of five children and grandfather, Waters "passes down conservative, working-class values being raised in a police family." His dad served as a Providence patrolman on motorcycle, and his mother retired as a bookkeeper from Wheeler School.

C.D. Reynolds

Reynolds was initially an Independent candidate for this seat in 2023's special election.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI Congressional District 1: Gabe Amo, Allen Waters, CD Reynolds running