Democrats are heavily favored to win both of Rhode Island's seats in the US House

Democrats are heavily favored to win both U.S. House seats in Rhode Island in Tuesday's election.

Rep. Gabe Amo, the first Black representative in Congress from Rhode Island, is poised to be reelected in the 1st Congressional District.

Amo faces Republican challenger Allen Waters and has promised to work on issues ranging from ending gun violence to supporting reproductive freedom and fighting to protect Social Security and Medicare.

Waters campaigned on his support for gun rights, ending government-backed student loans for college and a promise to “clean up the swamp of poorly managed government departments” like the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Last year, Amo beat out a crowded field in a special election to replace Democratic Rep. David Cicilline, who stepped down to lead a nonprofit foundation. Amo has worked as a senior adviser to President Joe Biden. He previously worked in state government and in the White House during the Obama administration.

Amo went to Wheaton College and studied public policy at Oxford University. The son of Ghanaian and Liberian immigrants, he says he was inspired by his parents’ drive. His mother studied nursing and his father opened a liquor store in part so he could be his own boss.

In the 2nd Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Seth Magaziner, the former state treasurer in Rhode Island, was also expected to be reelected.

He faces Republican Steve Corvi, who was making his first run for political office and has been vastly outspent. In 2022, Magaziner won the seat vacated by longtime U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin, who was retiring after two decades representing the district.

Since taking office, Magaziner, the son of former Clinton administration policy adviser Ira Magaziner, has worked to protect Social Security and Medicare, reduce the price of prescription drugs and expand the Affordable Care Act. He also has campaigned for gun safety legislation and abortion rights.

Corvi, meanwhile, highlighted the fact he was an “average American” who has no prior political experience and no connections. An adjunct university professor who specializes in British and American military history, Corvi campaigned for what he called a merit-based immigration system, support for Israel and policies that grow the economy.

People show their support for state Senate candidate Allyn Meyers outside a polling place on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Bristol, R.I. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

A woman registers for a provisional ballot on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, at the Town Hall in Bristol, R.I. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

A man walks past the polling place at City Hall in Providence R.I., Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

A woman leaves a polling place on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Bristol, R.I. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Voters are reflected in a window near an American flag as they mark their ballots during early voting in the general election, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at City Hall in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

FILE — Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District candidate Republican Allen Waters stands for a photograph, Wednesday, March 16, 2022, in Cranston, R.I. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

A "Vote Here" sign indicates the polling place at the Town Hall on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Bristol, R.I. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s marquee matchups for U.S. House races in Tuesday’s election feature tight contests in a district being vacated by three-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger and a district known to flip between Democratic and Republican control.

In Virginia’s 7th House District, Republican Derrick Anderson and Democrat Eugene Vindman are entrenched in a competitive race to succeed Spanberger, who is vacating her seat in favor of a gubernatorial bid next year.

Down the coast, Republican U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans is trying to cement her hold on her seat in a district known to swing between both parties. Kiggans faces Democratic challenger Missy Cotter Smasal in the 2nd District, a seat in which Kiggans ousted a Democratic incumbent in 2022.

This year, federal elections are closer than ever — a slim number of races may determine which party will clinch a congressional majority. In an intense battle over a few seats, competitive districts in Virginia and elsewhere will play a critical role in the fight for the House.

All U.S. House seats were up for election on Tuesday, including nine other districts in Virginia. State Sen. John McGuire is battling Democrat Gloria Witt in Virginia’s 5th District after narrowly defeating incumbent U.S. Rep. Bob Good by less than a percentage point in a bitter primary, which led to a recount in August.

In the 7th District, the race between Vindman and Anderson quickly became one of the most competitive in the country, with Republicans hoping to make gains in districts in which they don’t face an incumbent. Vindman, despite being a political newcomer, developed a national profile after blowing the whistle alongside his brother during then-President Donald Trump’s first impeachment. The former Army officer focused his campaign around abortion rights and the threat of MAGA extremism on democracy. Anderson, a fellow veteran and former Green Beret, pitched himself as the more affable candidate, and centered his campaign around the economy.

Republicans represented the district for nearly 50 years until Spanberger defeated former Republican Rep. David Brat in 2018.

In Fredericksburg Tuesday, 19-year-old Ossien Asiedu's disdain for the top of the Republican ticket helped Vindman pick up a vote.

“I just don’t like Trump at all,” said Asiedu, a University of Mary Washington sophomore who identified as an independent. Asiedu, who registered to vote on Election Day, said he chose all Democrats although knew little about the other races.

Wendy Stone, 50, a lifelong Virginia resident and longtime voter, picked Anderson.

While taking a photo of her grandchildren with a Trump standee, Stone said she liked Anderson's policies and didn't want to support Democrats.

“Vindman lies, just like the top of the Democratic ballot,” Stone said. “You can’t continually misrepresent basic information and expect voters to go with it.”

Dustin Schwers, a 22-year-old progressive voter who worked for another Democratic candidate in the primary, said he begrudgingly voted for Vindman. “This community is my home, but when he announced his candidacy, none of us knew who he was.”

Robert Gilbert, 63, liked that he saw a Vindman brother on the ballot.

“With his role in Trump’s first impeachment and his credentialed military background, he is the type of candidate I look for,” Gilbert said.

In the 2nd Congressional District, Democrats are putting their weight behind Cotter Smasal to reclaim the House seat after Kiggans ousted former Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria. The 2nd has traditionally been a swing district, oscillating in recent years between Republicans and Democrats who served in the Navy.

Candidate differences have mostly traced the national partisan fault lines. Kiggans focused on issues such as the economy and border security, while Cotter Smasal has centered her campaign on abortion access and defending American democracy following the Jan. 6 insurrection. In a district filled with military veterans, both candidates have cited the need to help veterans and address the rising cost of living.

Preserving the right to an abortion was a driving issue for Hannah Taylor, 34, of Virginia Beach, who voted for Cotter Smasal. Taylor, who just welcomed her first child and plans to have more, was especially concerned about the high mortality rate among Black mothers.

“If I were to be in a situation where a pregnancy didn’t go well or where there’s a chance of me dying or my baby dying, I would want to have the opportunity to do what is best for me,” said Taylor, who works as a case manager helping veterans find housing. “I would want the right to be able to do what I need to do and not die.”

But Jeff Parks, 60, who voted for Kiggans, said issues such as abortion are less relevant in congressional races with the matter now in state lawmakers’ hands.

“I think it’s a deflection away from the economy, inflation and other key issues,” said Parks, who lives outside Parksley on Virginia's Eastern Shore. “Economic development is clearly a top issue. We have very low-median incomes and high prices. We need jobs and lower costs of living.”

Parks works for a private company that provides emergency management services across the U.S. He also serves on his county's board of supervisors. He said Kiggans has entrenched herself in the community, while focusing on issues that include securing federal funding for sewer upgrades.

Up in northern Virginia, Democrats are trying to hold their ground after Democratic Rep. Jennifer Wexton announced she would not be running for reelection after being diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy. In an area that has trended liberal, Democrat Suhas Subramanyam is up against Republican Mike Clancy.

Subramanyam, formerly a tech adviser under the Obama administration, began his political career as a state lawmaker in 2020 and was elected to the Virginia Senate last November. His campaign against Clancy, a corporate attorney who previously served in the Navy’s Office of the General Counsel, came after Subramanyam clinched the Democratic nomination in a crowded primary in June.

Barakat reported from Falls Church, Virginia, and Finley from Virginia Beach.

Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Virginia Sen. Suhas Subramanyam, a Democrat running for Virginia's 10th House seat, talks with voters outside the Harper Park Middle School polling station at in Leesburg, Va., June 18, 2024. (Mark Miller/The Washington Post via AP)

Missy Cotter Smasal speaks to members of the media at Ballyhoos in Virginia Beach, Va., after winning the Democratic nomination in the race to represent the 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, June 18, 2024. (Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

Missy Cotter Smasal addresses her supporters at Ballyhoos in Virginia Beach, Va., after winning the Democratic nomination in the race to represent the 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, June 18, 2024. (Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

Republican congressional candidate Derrick Anderson gestures during an interview at an early voting station in Stafford, Va., Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. Anderson is running against Democrat Eugene Vindman in the 7th Congressional race. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

This combination image shows candidates for Virginia's 7th Congressional District, from left, Democrat Eugene Vindman, seen on Sept. 12, 2024, and Republican Derrick Anderson, seen on Oct. 23, 2024, both in Stafford, Va. (AP Photo/Jay Paul, left, and Steve Helber)