PROVIDENCE — Democrat David Cicilline won a second term in Rhode Island’s First Congressional District after fighting off a challenge from Republican Brendan Doherty.

Doherty, a former head of the State Police, ran the strongest Republican campaign for Congress in years in the state. He criticized Cicilline for his ­financial stewardship of Providence. Cicilline was the mayor for eight years before being sent to Washington in 2010.