Gabe Amo | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromRhode Island's1st district | |
| Assumed office November 13, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | David Cicilline |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Gabriel Felix Kofi Amo (1987-12-11)December 11, 1987 (age 37) Pawtucket, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | Wheaton College (BA) Merton College, Oxford (MSc) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
Gabriel Felix Kofi Amo (/ˈɑːmoʊ/AH-moh;[1] born December 11, 1987)[2] is an American politician serving as theU.S. representative forRhode Island's 1st congressional district since 2023.
Before running for Congress, Amo worked in theBiden administration as the deputy director of theWhite House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. He has also worked in theObama administration, on several Democratic political campaigns, and inRhode Island governorGina Raimondo's administration.[3]
Amo was born and raised inPawtucket, Rhode Island.[4] His father and mother immigrated to Rhode Island fromGhana andLiberia, respectively.[5][6] His mother is a nurse and his father owns a liquor store.[7] He graduated from theMoses Brown college preparatory school in Providence, Rhode Island, where he was part of the student senate and received theRhode Island Secretary of State's Civic Leadership Award.[4] He also was selected to participate in theUnited States Senate Youth Program in Washington, D.C.
Amo earned aBachelor of Arts fromWheaton College in Massachusetts, where he studiedpolitical science and graduatedPhi Beta Kappa andmagna cum laude.[8][9] He also was a member of thestudent government association.[10] He received aTruman Scholarship, a Public Policy and International Affairs Fellowship, and aMarshall Scholarship to study comparative social policy atMerton College, Oxford.[11][12]
In college, Amo volunteered onSheldon Whitehouse's2006 U.S. Senate campaign and then onBarack Obama's2008 presidential campaign.[8] He worked in theOffice of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs in theObama administration, serving as a liaison to governors and other state officials. He was also a national political coordinator for Obama's2012 re-election campaign.[13][3]
Amo served as GovernorGina Raimondo's principal advisor on outreach to Rhode Island's local government, business, and faith communities,[4] and worked as a senior advisor on her2018 re-election campaign.[3] He returned to national politics as a strategist and program advisor onJoe Biden's2020 presidential campaign and later served on histransition team.[12] He then served as thespecial assistant and deputy director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, working as the principal liaison to mayors and local elected officials.[10]
Amo left his White House job to run in the 2023 special election forRhode Island's 1st congressional district, after incumbent representativeDavid Cicilline announced his resignation from Congress to run thenon-profit Rhode Island Foundation.[14] Amo's campaign focused on protecting Social Security, Medicare, and abortion rights, while tackling gun violence and climate change.[6] He received endorsements from theCongressional Black Caucus, former Rhode Island representativePatrick J. Kennedy, and formerWhite House chief of staffRon Klain.[15] He also was supported by outside spending from Democrats Serve PAC and Collective PAC.[16][17]
Amo was criticized for accepting over $20,000 from federal lobbyists representing major corporations, includingFox Corporation,Eli Lilly and Company,Philip Morris USA,Marathon Petroleum, and others. His receipts also included more than $8,000 from lobbyists forWall Street firms and banks, such asBank of America,JPMorgan Chase,Mastercard, andBitcoin.[18] His primary campaign received more than $600,000 in donations in total.[6] In late August, a poll conducted for his campaign showed him in second place.[19]
In September 2023, in an upset, Amo won the Democratic primary to become the party's nominee for Rhode Island's 1st congressional district.[20][21] The general election was held on November 7.[22][23] Amo won the election, becoming the first person of color elected to represent Rhode Island in Congress.[24][25] He was officially sworn into Congress on November 13, 2023.[26]
On November 5, 2024, Amo won re-election to his house seat defeating Republican Allen Waters 63% to 32%[1]
For the119th Congress:[27]
Amo voted in favor of three military aid package supplementals forUkraine,Israel, andTaiwan respectively in April 2024, along with most Democrats.[32][33][34] After all three bills successfully passed the House, he criticizedHouse Republicans for “months of reckless delays”.[35]
Honors
In 2017, Amo received Higher Ground International's Clan Chief Award. In 2019, he received the distinguished Young Alumnus/a Award from Moses Brown School. In 2022, he was the Ghana Diaspora Public Affairs Collective's distinguished honoree at the Golden Gala and Awards Symposium, honoring seniorGhanaian-American government officials.[37]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Gabe Amo | 12,946 | 32.4 | |
| Democratic | Aaron Regunberg | 9,960 | 24.9 | |
| Democratic | Sandra Cano | 5,574 | 13.9 | |
| Democratic | Sabina Matos | 3,210 | 8.0 | |
| Democratic | Stephen Casey | 2,329 | 5.8 | |
| Democratic | Walter Berbrick | 1,453 | 3.6 | |
| Democratic | Ana Quezada | 1,415 | 3.5 | |
| Democratic | John Goncalves | 1,118 | 2.8 | |
| Democratic | Donald Carlson (withdrawn) | 690 | 1.7 | |
| Democratic | Allen Waters | 503 | 1.3 | |
| Democratic | Stephanie Beauté | 428 | 1.1 | |
| Democratic | Spencer Dickinson | 354 | 0.9 | |
| Total votes | 39,980 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Gabe Amo | 43,290 | 64.73% | +0.70 | |
| Republican | Gerry Leonard Jr. | 23,393 | 34.98% | −0.78 | |
| Write-in | 193 | 0.29% | +0.06 | ||
| Total votes | 66,876 | 100.00 | |||
| Democratichold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Gabe Amo (incumbent) | 139,352 | 63.02% | −1.71 | |
| Republican | Allen Waters | 70,742 | 31.99% | −2.99 | |
| Independent | CD Reynolds | 10,463 | 4.73% | −N/A | |
| Write-in | 561 | 0.25% | −0.04 | ||
| Total votes | 221,118 | 100.00 | |||
| Democratichold | |||||
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromRhode Island's 1st congressional district 2023–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 363rd | Succeeded by |