(The Center Square) – A special election for Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District has been finalized.

Gov. Dan McKee said Thursday he issued an official writ of election for the seat vacated by Congressman David Cicilline, a Democrat. The special election will be held Nov. 7, with the primary Sept. 5.

Cicilline delivered his final speech on the floor of the House of Representatives on Wednesday. The veteran legislator has accepted the president and chief executive officer position of the Rhode Island Foundation, one of the country’s oldest and most prominent community foundations.

“I come from a state whose motto is ‘Hope,’” Cicilline said in his speech. “And as I leave Congress, I want to leave with this parting word, ‘Hope.’ Hope for our democracy and for this institution. For centuries, the United States has been the hope of the world. We are the nation where freedom, equality, opportunity for all, and unity have made us a beacon of hope in some of the darkest times in human history. For generations, men and women have fought to preserve our way of life, and many have given their blood, sweat, and even their lives for it.

“Yet today, there are forces working to undermine our democratic institutions and our shared values. This institution has the sacred responsibility to honor the sacrifices made by so many in the work we do every day, in the way we treat one another as colleagues, and in our commitment to let truth, not fear, reason not extremism, and respect for all not division, lead our every effort.”

McKee said Cicilline’s work will “leave a legacy” that residents of the state “can be proud of.”

“I hope all Rhode Islanders in the first congressional district use their voice to help elect their next representative,” the Democratic governor said in a statement.

McKee issued the order for the special election once he received Cicilline’s official resignation letter, which is mandated under federal and state law.