Gabe Amo

Gabe Amo is an American politician of Ghanaian and Liberian descent who has represented Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District in the US House of Representatives since November 2023. He is the first Black person elected to Congress from Rhode Island. On 3 November 2026 he won re-election, one of two politicians of Ghanaian heritage to win US House races that night, alongside Adrian Boafo.

Early life and education

Gabriel Felix Kofi Amo was born on 11 December 1987 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. His father is from Ghana and runs a liquor store; his mother, from Liberia, is a nurse. He attended Moses Brown School in Providence and was selected for the United States Senate Youth Program. He graduated in political science from Wheaton College in Massachusetts, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, then studied comparative social policy at Merton College, Oxford, as a Marshall Scholar. He was also a Truman Scholar.

Obama, Raimondo and Biden

Amo volunteered on Sheldon Whitehouse's Senate campaign in 2006 and Barack Obama's presidential campaign in 2008. He went on to work in the Obama White House as a liaison to governors and state officials, and was national political coordinator for Obama's 2012 re-election campaign. In Rhode Island he became a senior adviser to Governor Gina Raimondo. He worked on Joe Biden's 2020 campaign and transition, then served in the Biden White House as special assistant to the president and deputy director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Congress

When David Cicilline resigned in 2023, Amo left the White House to run in the special election. He won the Democratic primary on 5 September 2023 with 32.4% of the vote, then the special election on 7 November 2023 with 64.7%, and was sworn in on 13 November 2023. He was re-elected in 2024 with 63%. He sits on the Budget, Foreign Affairs, and Science, Space and Technology committees and is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

2026 re-election

In the midterm election of 3 November 2026, with 97% of votes counted, Rhode Island Board of Elections figures showed Amo on 68% against Republican Kellie Keenan on 28% and independent Pedro DeSouza on 4%.