Democrat fends of GOP challenger in bellwether Rhode Island House race

Democrat Seth Magaziner is projected to win the race for Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District.

The Washington Post and The Associated Press called the race around 11 p.m. ET, and Republican candidate Allan Fung conceded in a speech Tuesday night.

Magaziner’s apparent win comes as a surprise after recent polling showed Fung pulling ahead in a district that has typically been an easy pickup for Democrats. The election was viewed as a bellwether of Democrats’ performance in the midterms.

Magaziner, the state’s general treasurer, heads to the House in place of retiring Democratic Rep. Jim Langevin, keeping the district out of Republican hands.  

Langevin, who announced earlier this year that he wouldn’t seek reelection after two decades in the chamber, won his 2020 reelection bid handily, but the race was tighter in his absence. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rated the open seat this year as a “toss up.” 

Langevin endorsed Magaziner in the race, as did the liberal state’s two Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed. A Suffolk University-Boston Globe poll showed Fung with a single-digit lead just a few weeks beforehand, but the Democrat eked out a win on Election Day.