Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee, a Democrat, signed off on a congressional map Friday that presents Republicans with a new opportunity to win a seat in the U.S. House.
The new map made minimal changes to the state’s districts and did not move major municipalities around, which means the state’s vacant 2nd Congressional District seat could be competitive in the upcoming midterm election cycle.
TOP RHODE ISLAND REPUBLICAN ENTERS RACE THAT COULD FLIP CONGRESSIONAL SEAT
Republican state Rep. Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung, who is married to Allan Fung, a Republican candidate for the 2nd District, thanked the House speaker for not trying to gerrymander the map.
“I think a lesser person might have played some games, and the fact that the bills came through as is says a lot about your leadership in Rhode Island, where we are used to games happening,” Fenton-Fung said, according to the Providence Journal.
The Democratic-led state Legislature approved the map, along with a General Assembly map, this past week. The congressional map passed the House 58-8 and Senate 29-9. The state retained its two-seat count following the most recent census. The seat for the 2nd District was held by Democratic Rep. Jim Langevin for over 20 years. He announced his retirement last month in an op-ed.
Both of the state’s congressional seats have long been safe seats for Democrats, but the 2nd District leans less in favor of Democrats than the 1st District. For example, in the 2020 election, Democratic Rep. David Cicilline won reelection in the 1st District with more than 71% of the vote. Langevin won the 2nd District with about 58% of the vote against a Republican challenger, Bob Lancia, who had less name recognition than Fung.
Fung, who previously ran unsuccessfully for governor against Gina Raimondo in 2014 and 2018, announced his candidacy for the 2nd District last week. He previously served as the mayor of Cranston, the second-largest city in the state, from 2009 to 2021. He is currently facing Lancia and state Sen. Jessica de la Cruz in the primary. Some analysts have suggested that Fung and Democratic state Treasurer Seth Magaziner are the top contenders in their respective primaries for the seat.
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With Rhode Island’s map approved, there are only eight states left in the country that have not implemented legally operative congressional maps, totaling nearly 100 congressional seats. About a dozen of the 42 states that have legally operative maps are facing legal challenges that could upend their maps, according to the FiveThirtyEight redistricting tracker.
