Rhode Island

RHODE ISLAND

4 Electoral Votes

Population
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Rhode Island Board of Elections)

Total Population, July 1, 2008 est.	1,050,788
Registered Voters, Oct. 4, 2008	701,307

Dem. 298,388 (42.55%) Rep. 76,651 (10.93%) Unaffil. 326,268 (46.52%)
Rhode Island counties: Providence, Kent, Washington, Newport, Bristol.
39 cities and towns.

Government
Governor: Donald L. Carcieri (R) elected in 2002, re-elected in 2006.
State Legislature: Rhode Island General Assembly House: 100 seats Senate: 50 seats
Local: Cities and Towns NACO Counties
U.S. House: 2D - 1. P.Kennedy (D) | 2. J.Langevin (D).
U.S. Senate: Jack Reed (D) up for re-election in 2008, Sheldon Whitehouse (D) elected in 2006.

2008 update
U.S. Senate: Sen. Jack Reed (D) trounced Bob Tingle (R), gaining 73.4% of the vote.
U.S. House: Both congressmen were re-elected with over two-thirds of the vote.
State Legislature: Democrats increased already overwhelming majorities, going from 61D, 14R in the House and 33D, 5R in the Senate to 69D, 6R in the House and 33D, 4R, 1I in the Senate.
More: Rhode Island voters also approved a couple of bond measures.

The Ocean State

State of Rhode Island
Board of Elections
Secretary of State

Green Party of RI
RI Republican Party
RI Democratic Party
RI Libertarian Party
Constitution Party-RI

Providence Journal
Newspapers
TV, Radio

Politics1-RI

General Election -- Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Voting Eligible Population*: 754,438.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 62.3%.

Record number of voters: "The total of 475,428 votes broke the 1992 record of 453,477 by more than 21,000."

Deadline to register to vote in the General Election: Oct. 2, 2004. +

Official Results >
+Obama/Biden (Dem.)	296,571	(62.95)
McCain/Palin (Rep.)	165,391	(35.11)
Nader/Gonzalez (Ind.)	4,829	(1.03)
Barr/Root (Lib.)	1,382	(0.29)
McKinney/Clemente (Grn.)	797	(0.17)
Baldwin/Castle (Const.)	675	(0.14)
La Riva (SL)	122	(0.03)
write-ins	1,332	(0.28)
Total........471,099

Top write-ins were Hillary Clinton (655) and Ron Paul (472).

2008 Overview
Obama-Biden carried the Ocean State with a plurality of 131,180 votes (27.84 percentage points).
Obama/Allies | McCain/Allies | Nader

Presidential Preference Primary -- Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Registered Voters, Feb. 7, 2008: Dem. 236,404 (35.54%) Rep. 75,726 (11.39%) Unaffil. 352,961 (53.07%) ...Total 665,091

Democrats
32 Delegates (21 Pledged, 11 Unpledged) and 4 Alternates.
0.79% of the 4,049 Delegate Votes.

Clinton | Obama

Official Results

+Hillary Clinton	108,949	58.37%
Barack Obama	75,316	40.35%
John Edwards	1,133	0.61%
Uncommitted	1,041	0.56%
write in	218	0.12%
Total	186,657

over votes 193 under votes 1,443 ballots cast: 188,293

Republicans
20 Delegates: 3 RNC; 11 at-large; 6 by CD (3 x 2 CDs).
0.84% of the 2,380 Delegates.

McCain
former: Giuliani | Romney

Official Results

+John McCain	17,480	64.18%
Mike Huckabee	5,847	21.47%
Ron Paul	1,777	6.52%
Mitt Romney	1,181	4.34%
Uncommitted	570	2.09%
Keyes	117	0.43%
Cort	24
Total	26,996

over votes 23 under votes 314 ballots cast 27,575

Setting the Primary Date
Rhode Island looked set to become a late entrant in the February 5 stampede. On Oct. 30, 2007 in a special session the General Assembly passed S1152, a bill by Sen. Leonidas Raptakis (D-Coventry, East Greenwich, Warwick, West Warwick) to move the presidential primary from the first Tuesday in March to the first Tuesday in February (Feb. 5, 2008). (press release) (Earlier, on Feb. 15, 2007 in the regular 2006 session, Raptakis had introduced a similar measure, S0740. The Senate approved that measure on May 2, 2007 and referred it to the House Judiciary Committee, but it was not taken up). However, on Nov. 4, 2007 Gov. Don Carcieri (R) vetoed S1152, citing concerns of local election officials. (veto message)
(General Laws of Rhode Island -Chapter 17-12.1).

General Election-- Tuesday, November 7, 2004

Voting Eligible Population*: 747,046.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 58.5%.

Deadline to register to vote in the General Election: Oct. 2, 2004.

Official Results
+Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)	259,760	(59.42)
Bush/Cheney (Rep.)	169,046	(38.67)
Nader (Ref.)	4,651	(1.06)
Cobb (Grn.)	1,333	(0.30)
Badnarik (Lib.)	907	(0.21)
write-ins	845	(0.19)
Peroutka (Const.)	339	(0.08)
Parker (WWP)	253	(0.06)
Total........437,134

19,046 were mail ballots; the rest cast at polling places.

2004 Overview
Kerry carried Rhode Island with a plurality of 86,413 votes (20.75 percentage points)

[Party Primaries: Sept. 14, 2004]

General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2000

Voting Eligible Population*: 753,877.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 54.2%.

Note: Registration deadline to vote a full ballot was Oct. 7, 2000. People registering to vote from Oct. 8 up to and including Nov. 7 (16,505 of the total 671,612) were eligible to vote for President and Vice President only.

Official Results
+Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)	249,508	(60.99)
Bush/Cheney (Rep.)	130,555	(31.91)
Nader/LaDuke (Grn.)	25,052	(6.12)
Buchanan/Foster (Ref.)	2,273	(0.56)
Browne/Olivier (Lib.)	742	(0.18)
Hagelin/Goldhaber (NLP)	271	(0.07)
Moorehead/LaRiva(WWP)	199	(0.05)
Phillips/Frazier (Const.)	97	(0.02)
McReynolds/Hollis (Soc.)	52	(0.01)
Harris/Trowe (SWP)	34	(0.01)
write-ins	329	(0.08)
Total........409,112

2000 Overview
Gore comfortably won Rhode Island's four electoral votes, gaining a plurality of 118,953 votes (29.08 percentage points). Nader's 6-percent showing qualified the Green Party for ballot status in the next statewide election.

1992 and 1996 General Elections

1992

Clinton (Dem.)........213,299	(47.04)
Bush (Rep.)............104,683	(29.02)
Perot (PfP.).............43,723	(23.16)
Others (5+scat.)........3,533	(0.78)
Total........453,478

1996

Clinton (Dem.).........233,050	(59.71)
Dole (Rep.).............104,683	(26.82)
Perot (Ref.)..............43,723	(11.20)
Nader (Grn.)..............6,040	(1.55)
Others (4+scat.).........2,788	(0.71)
Total........390,284

2004 page >
2000 page >