Gabe Amo, who recently resigned from President Joe Biden’s White House, announced Tuesday that he’s joining the race to succeed Rep. David Cicilline, a Democrat, in Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District.
Amo, 35, who served as a special assistant to Biden and deputy director for intergovernmental affairs at the White House, told NBC News in an interview that he is seeking the House seat “because the 1st Congressional District needs someone who can deliver on Day One.”
“I have a real sense of purpose and mission,” he said, noting he wants to prevent cuts to Social Security and Medicare, block new congressional restrictions on abortion and promote gun safety legislation.
The Washington Post and The Boston Globe reported in recent days that Amo — a Rhode Island native who previously worked for then-President Barack Obama, then-Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. — was looking to run for Congress after leaving the White House.
In his role at the Biden White House, Amo served as a point person between the administration and local leaders, particularly as they sought to implement Biden’s legislative efforts locally. He also helped coordinate White House responses to mass shootings and other large-scale disasters, he said.
Amo pointed to his time serving in Biden’s White House when talking about enacting new gun reforms.
“I have often been the person on the other end of the line calling a mayor of a city to offer my condolences about people being murdered in the streets,” he said. “So whether it’s banning assault weapons, whether it’s calling for more corporate accountability and ending the protection that gun manufacturers have, that’s something that I care really strongly about.”
He also talked up the need to pass elements of Biden’s agenda that did not make it through Congress in the first part of his term, when Democrats held control of both chambers.
“In the areas of child care and elder care, we have much more work to do to ensure that we’re protecting our most vulnerable,” he said.
Amo is jumping into an already crowded field that could grow even larger, with a number of state leaders and Rhode Island lawmakers having announced or expected to do so soon. The district, which covers much of the eastern part of the state, is rated safely Democratic by the Cook Political Report.
Cicilline announced in February that he would retire to lead the Rhode Island Foundation, which backs nonprofits in the state. The special election to replace him is scheduled for Nov. 7, with the Democratic primary to take place Sept. 5.
Amo said he has spoken with Cicilline “numerous times” about the race, noting the congressman has shared straightforward advice on running: Work hard. Amo said he learned that lesson firsthand from his parents, first-generation immigrants from Ghana and Liberia who met in Rhode Island and “had me know what it’s like to struggle to make ends meet.”
“I have benefited tremendously from the values that they put forward,” he said. “And that has bridged to the values that I’ve been able to carry out as a leader in the White House and as a leader in a governor’s office.”
