Their differences were especially clear on the SAVE Act, a federal elections bill championed by President Donald Trump. Mellor supported the measure and said he hoped Trump might pursue its aims through an executive order, while Magaziner voted against it, calling it a voter-suppression bill.

Magaziner argued that the bill’s requirements could make voting by mail difficult for seniors and women who changed their names after marriage. He said he could support a straightforward voter ID measure like Rhode Island’s, but maintained the SAVE Act went much further. Mellor framed his support around election fairness, saying, “Free and fair elections is important for a democracy, isn’t it?”

The candidates also disagreed over Trump’s pardons of people charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Mellor, who attended the march to the Capitol and says he did not participate in violence, said people who assaulted police should be investigated individually. He nevertheless said he understood the president’s decision to issue a blanket pardon, describing it as part of “moving along.”

Magaziner said no rioters should have been pardoned, citing injuries to more than 100 Capitol Police and D.C. Metropolitan Police officers. He said people who attacked officers while trying to overturn a democratic election should not receive pardons.

Mellor criticized socialism and described Magaziner as a “progressive leftist,” but stopped short of calling the incumbent a socialist. Magaziner said he has never identified as one. He argued that government should help ensure access to health care and education and dignity in retirement, while rejecting the idea that government should control everything. Magaziner also said he supports Providence mayoral candidate David Morales and the Democratic slate in November.

On data centers, neither candidate backed a national moratorium. Magaziner said decisions should be made community by community, with federal standards for energy and water use. He raised concerns about Rhode Island’s limited buildable land and said he did not think large data centers made sense in the state. Mellor said data centers have national-security significance and could be acceptable in Rhode Island under the right conditions, including closed-cycle water cooling and consideration of environmental effects.

The candidates differed on how quickly the federal government should regulate artificial intelligence. Mellor said guardrails are needed but warned that stopping development could leave the United States behind. Magaziner said Congress should regulate AI aggressively and require rigorous safety testing of advanced products before they reach the market. He also said the government should be able to remove products found to be dangerous, and accused AI companies of using campaign spending to impede regulation.

Their foreign-policy views diverged over Cuba. Mellor, who registered as a foreign agent to engage with Communist Party leaders in Cuba, opposed lifting the U.S. fuel blockade. He praised the approach of Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, though he said he was unsure what their plan was. Magaziner backed negotiations to improve relations and criticized Mellor’s work for a foreign government as inappropriate for someone seeking congressional office.

On Israel, Magaziner said he supports Israel’s existence as a refuge for Jews but considers the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank unacceptable. He co-sponsored the Block the Bombs Act, which would restrict U.S. weapons shipments to Israel, and said withholding aid could pressure the government to change course. He declined to characterize the situation in Gaza as genocide, saying he would leave that determination to academics and lawyers.

Mellor said every nation has a right to defend itself but that Americans should not pay for Israel’s defense. He rejected the term genocide, arguing that Gaza’s population growth meant the situation did not fit the definition.

Magaziner said he would support a national ban on partisan gerrymandering. Mellor opposed such a ban, saying states should decide their own rules. On a separate question, Magaziner said he voted for legislation requiring AM radios in new cars, citing their potential role in emergency alerts if other communications fail. Mellor said he would have opposed the mandate, arguing consumers should choose what they want in their vehicles.