Regunberg says it's his last election run
Regunberg's loss to Amo, who
served as deputy director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental
Affairs, was seen as a significant disappointment for
progressives in the heavily blue district previously represented by Rep. David
Cicilline (D-R.I.), who stepped down earlier
this year.
If Amo defeats Republican Gerry Leonard in
November, he will be the first Black person to ever represent Rhode Island in
Congress.
Cicilline did not endorse in the crowded
primary race, but Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.)—a friend and political ally of
Cicilline—backed Regunberg, as did the Congressional Progressive
Caucus PAC, the Working Families Party, Our Revolution, Friends of the Earth Action, and other
progressive organizations.
Justice Democrats, whose organizing work has been key to progressive primary victories in recent years, did not get involved in the race as the group struggles to raise money.
Some local left-wing groups, including the
Democratic Socialists of America's Providence chapter, opposed Regunberg
and criticized Sanders
and Ocasio-Cortez for endorsing the Rhode Island Democrat, pointing to the
backing his campaign received from a super PAC.
As The American Prospect's Luke
Goldstein wrote in a recap of
Tuesday's contest, Progress RI's support for Regunberg included "a $5,000
contribution from his mother and $125,000 from his father-in-law, an executive
at a global investment firm."
Amo's fundraising also came under fire.
According to a memo released by the
Working Families Party in the final stretch of the campaign, the former Biden
administration official's campaign received tens of thousands of dollars from
lobbyists working for companies that represent Big Pharma, the parent
corporation of Fox News, the oil and gas industry, tobacco
companies, and Wall Street.
HuffPost's
Daniel Marans noted Tuesday that
Amo "got a last-minute assist from former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, who
represented the House seat for 16 years before Cicilline."
After endorsing Amo, Kennedy
"aggressively attacked Regunberg in a local television interview,"
Marans reported, "calling him an 'extreme' ideologue whose support for a
smaller defense budget would jeopardize Rhode Island jobs―and even Democrats'
hold on the House seat. (Biden carried the seat by 29 percentage points in
2020.)"
But Marans pointed out that "Regunberg
would not have been a member of the left-wing 'Squad.'"
"He cited Cicilline as a model of
effective progressive governance," Marans explained, "and touted his
own work on the passage of state laws ensuring workers paid sick leave, raising
the state's tipped minimum wage,
creating a commission to study the use of solitary confinement,
enacting online voter registration, and encouraging
homeowners' adoption of solar panels."
Polling released in the
lead-up to Tuesday's race showed that Regunberg was in the lead, but a
significant percentage of voters surveyed were undecided in the days ahead of
the special election.
Goldstein argued in the Prospect that
"the inability to convert on a winnable race... should alarm national
progressive groups as they limp into the next election cycle."