Magaziner beats Fung for Rhode Island House seat

Democrat Seth Magaziner defeated Republican Allan Fung in the race for Rhode Island U.S. House District 2. Magaziner has been the state’s General Treasurer since 2015. He supported abortion rights, gun control measures and expansion of the Affordable Care Act.

Fung, 52, is the former mayor of Cranston, which is the second largest city in Rhode Island. While running as the Republican candidate for the state’s 2nd Congressional District, Fung positioned himself as a moderate. He has expressed that he does not support late-term abortions except in cases of rape, incest or to protect the mother’s life. He also does not support complete abortion bans.

Both candidates expressed plans to tackle inflation, as it has remained the top issue for Americans this election cycle.

“We have too much money into our system that’s driving up the costs at the grocery store, that’s driving down the incomes of many of the families and more money going out of their pockets because of the inflation that’s happening,” Fung said in a debate earlier this month.

“Listen, Allan and the Republicans supported giving trillions of dollars of tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires. If there’s too much money in the system, start there,” Magaziner said. “Roll back some of those tax cuts to the billionaires.”

Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District has been blue since 1991. The district includes Providence and New Shoreham. The incumbent, Rep. Jim Langevin, will retire. New England’s last Democrat in the House of Representatives lost his race for reelection in 2018.