- Ted, it's good to be with you again.

You covered the special election for Congress extensively last year.

We saw Congressman Gabe Amo won a strong campaign.

He won about a third of the vote during the primary.

But let's go back to last April.

When the Congressman announced he was running, the vast majority of Rhode Islanders did not even know who he was.

- Yeah, that's for sure, Michelle.

Some political insiders knew Gabe Amo from his time working for Governor Raimondo and other senior politicians.

But yeah, he was not a household name.

And I think if you think back to then, there are so many scenarios that, if they changed, I think Gabe Amo might not have won this seat, all the way back to that period you're talking about.

We thought Joe Shekarchi, the House Speaker, might run, or Helena Foulkes, who ran for governor in 2022.

They both took a pass, so that took out two people who would've had a lot of money in name recognition.

Then Sabina Matos, the Lieutenant Governor, looked like a very strong candidate, had a lot of outside support.

Her campaign collapsed after that scandal over the signatures on her ballot papers.

Tom Carlson, a candidate, first time candidate, but had a lot of money, he was the best funded candidate in the Democratic primary at one point.

After our investigation at Channel 12 into the circumstances that led him to depart from Williams College, he drops out of the race.

So by the very end of it, you have kind of a two-way contest between former State Rep Aaron Regunberg, a more left wing, Bernie-aligned candidate, and Gabe Amo running as a traditional Obama-Biden type of Democrat.

A very different race from what we've been expecting.

Not to take away anything from Amo and his team.

They worked hard, they had good ads, they raised a lot of money, he was very energetic, but you also do need breaks in politics.

- And also it became more of his seat to lose by that point.

I recently sat down with the congressman and we met up at the liquor store that his father owns in Providence.

So I'm talking with both father and son there, and I said to him, "Congressman, do you ever pinch yourself that you're sitting here, the son of a liquor store owner, but you're also the junior congressman from Rhode Island?"

And he said, "No, there should be more of this.

There should be more people who have stories like mine sitting in office."

Which I thought was telling.

- Yeah, I have no doubt Congressman Amo feels that way, and you can understand why, but at the same time, it is a major change to send someone like Gabe Amo, the son of immigrants, on to Capital Hill from Rhode Island, a place that's often sent blue bloods to Rhode Island over the years.

So while I understand that, I think the fact that he was also a historic candidate was another bit of wind in his sails.

- Yeah, the congressman is a millennial.

Representative Seth Magaziner, who took office last year, also millennial.

They both replaced what are considered Baby Boomers, Jim Langevin and David Cicilline.

We should also stress- - Younger Baby Boomers.

- They are younger Baby Boomers.

- They want us to say that.

- But it's interesting because both their departures, Langevin and Cicilline, I think, to most people was shocking.

- Certainly to me, and it's my job to know these things.

But I didn't see it coming.

I don't think most people did.

I mean, a couple years ago we were wondering if they'd be running against each other if Rhode Island lost a House seat.

And now within a couple years they're both out of Congress.

Big surprise.

And as you say, it has led to a generational change in the U.S. House delegation.

And actually if you add in across the border in Massachusetts, Jake Auchincloss, who represents part of Bristol County, he's a millennial too.

So you have a real reset in who's representing this region in Congress just in the last few years.

And it's an interesting contrast with the conversation in Washington right now about political leaders holding on into their 80s, even into their 90s in some cases.

That's not necessarily the case, at least in the House delegation around here.

- But it is a contrast to what we're seeing in the U.S. Senate as it relates to Rhode Island.

The last time that we had a seat open up here in Rhode Island in the Senate was back in 2006 when Sheldon Whitehouse ran against Lincoln Chafee.

Jack Reed has been in the Senate since 1997.

There's no indication that either wants to give up that seat anytime soon.

- Yeah, certainly Whitehouse is up for reelection this year.

He's running, he is a strong favorite, though two Republicans are seeking the nomination against him.

He's 68 this year, so that's a spring chicken in the U.S. Senate at this point.

And then Jack Reed, he's gonna be 77 in 2026 when he's up for another term.

I am curious about Reed's decision.

He is getting to the point in his career where he may decide at some point not to run again.

I'm not expecting that, though.

We recently had Speaker Shekarchi, who's close to Reed, on "Newsmakers" and Channel 12, and he was adamant Reed is running again.

He's the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

He's certainly still very vigorous.

So I do expect him to run.

But as you said, Michelle, the surprise of those two retirements in the House has me kind of on edge about somebody surprising me again.

- Well, and also we should stress, I mean, senators from Rhode Island tend to serve for a long time.

We look back at John Chafee, he served for almost a quarter century.

John Pastore for more than 20 years.

Claiborne Pell for more than three decades.

So this is clearly a trend.

Once they're in office, they wanna stay there.

- Right, Reed can point to T.F.

Green, the man, not the airport, who ran for his final term in 1954.

He was 87 years old and he won that race.

It was the most expensive race in the country in 1954.

- Wow.

- So there's history for Reed if he wants to run and run and run.

- Yeah, this is good historical context to help us understand elections now.

Thank you so much, Ted.

- Good to be here.

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