BOE certifies CD1 primary results, with 44,000 votes cast

Gabe Amo has officially been crowned the victor of an 11-way Democratic primary for the 1st Congressional District seat with 12,964 votes, or 32.4% of ballots cast, according to final election results certified by the Rhode Island Board of Elections (BOE) on Tuesday.

The primary was held on Sept. 5, but election workers continued to tally mail ballots, including from military and overseas voters, and provisional ballots cast on Primary Day, through Sept. 8, according to Miguel Nunez, BOE’s deputy elections director.

That’s not atypical, said Nunez, because deadlines for military and overseas voters to turn in their ballots means no election can be finalized day-of. Numbers of provisional ballots, as well as mail ballots from overseas and military voters were not immediately available as of Wednesday morning.

In all, the 44,045 votes cast in the primary represents 12.2% of registered voters. About two-thirds of ballots were cast on primary day itself, while another 18.5% were cast through in-person, early voting across the state. The remaining 14.8% were cast by mail.

Amo, a former White House staffer and Pawtucket native, ended 2,986 votes ahead of second-place finisher, Aaron Regunberg. 

Republican Gerry Leonard also secured the party nomination in a race against former Middletown Town Council member Terri Flynn. Leonard received 3,076 votes, or 75.7% of Republican ballots cast in the primary, according to official results. 

Turnout among registered Democrats and Republicans in the district was also not immediately clear, since unaffiliated voters could cast ballots in either primary. Those numbers will be made available through the Rhode Island Secretary of State’s office soon, Nunez said.