Rhode Island Democratic Party | |
---|---|
Chairperson | Elizabeth Perik |
Governor | Dan McKee |
Lieutenant Governor | Sabina Matos |
Senate President | Dominick Ruggerio |
House Speaker | Joe Shekarchi |
Headquarters | Warwick, RI |
Membership (2021) | 346,320 [1] |
Ideology | Modern liberalism |
National affiliation | Democratic Party |
Colors | Blue |
Seats in the U.S. Senate | 2 / 2 |
Seats in the U.S. House | 2 / 2 |
Statewide Executive Offices | 5 / 5 |
State Senate | 33 / 38 |
State House | 65 / 75 |
Website | |
www.ridemocrats.org | |
The Rhode Island Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Elizabeth Perik is the chair of the party. The party has dominated politics in Rhode Island for the past five decades.
For nearly five decades, Rhode Island has been one of the United States' most solidly Democratic states. Since 1928, it has voted for the Republican presidential candidate only four times (Dwight Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956, Richard Nixon in 1972 and Ronald Reagan in 1984) and has elected only two Republicans (former Governor John H. Chafee and his son, Lincoln Chafee, though the younger Chafee became a Democrat during his later governorship) to the U.S. Senate since 1934. Rhode Island sent no Republicans to the U.S. House of Representatives from 1940 until 1980, when one Republican and one Democrat were elected. In 1980, Rhode Island was one of only six states to be won by incumbent president Jimmy Carter. However, Republican Edward DiPrete was elected governor in 1984 and Ronald Reagan narrowly carried the state in the 1984 presidential election. In the 2000 presidential election, Democrat Al Gore won 61% of the popular vote in the state. [2]
An analysis of Gallup polling data shows the Democratic advantage over the Republican Party in Rhode Island voters plunged between 2008 and 2011. [3] The Democratic advantage over the Republican Party in Rhode Island slid from 37 percentage points in 2008 to 16, according to Gallup. Rhode Island went from the most Democratic state in the country in 2008 to the 7th most Democratic in 2011. [4]
Democrats have controlled both of Rhode Island's seats in the U.S. Senate since 2006:
Out of the 2 seats Rhode Island is apportioned in the U.S. House of Representatives, both are held by Democrats.
District | Member | Photo |
---|---|---|
1st | Gabe Amo | |
2nd | Seth Magaziner |
Democrats control all five of the elected statewide offices:
The leadership of the Rhode Island Democratic Party, as of 2024, is as follows:
Candidate | Party | Vote % | Votes |
---|---|---|---|
Joseph R. Biden | Democratic | 59.4 | 307,486 |
Donald J. Trump | Republican | 38.6 | 199,922 |
Candidate | Party | Vote % |
---|---|---|
John F. Reed | Democratic | 66.2 |
Allen R. Waters | Republican | 33.4 |
Candidate | Party | Vote % |
---|---|---|
David N. Cicilline | Democratic | 70.8 |
Frederick Wysocki | Independent | 15.8 |
Jeffrey E. Lemire | Independent | 12.6 |
Candidate | Party | Vote % |
---|---|---|
James R. Langevin | Democratic | 58.2 |
Robert B. Lancia | Republican | 41.5 |
Candidate | Party | Vote % |
---|---|---|
Sheldon Whitehouse | Democratic | 61.4 |
Robert G. Flanders Jr. | Republican | 38.3 |
Candidate | Party | Vote % |
---|---|---|
David N. Cicilline | Democratic | 66.7 |
Patrick J. Donovan | Republican | 33.1 |
Candidate | Party | Vote % |
---|---|---|
James R. Langevin | Democratic | 63.5 |
Salvatore G. Caiozzo | Republican | 36.3 |
Candidate | Party | Vote % | Votes |
---|---|---|---|
Hillary Clinton | Democratic | 54.4 | 252,525 |
Donald J. Trump | Republican | 38.9 | 180,453 |
Candidate | Party | Vote % |
---|---|---|
David N. Cicilline | Democratic | 64.5 |
Russell Taub | Republican | 35.1 |
Candidate | Party | Vote % |
---|---|---|
James R. Langevin | Democratic | 58.1 |
Rhue Reis | Republican | 30.7 |
Candidate | Party | Vote % |
---|---|---|
John F. Reed | Democratic | 70.6 |
Mark S. Zaccaria | Republican | 29.2 |
Candidate | Party | Vote % |
---|---|---|
David N. Cicilline | Democratic | 59.5 |
Cormick B. Lynch | Republican | 40.2 |
Candidate | Party | Vote % |
---|---|---|
James R. Langevin | Democratic | 62.2 |
Rhue R. Reis | Republican | 37.6 |
Candidate | Party | Vote % |
---|---|---|
Barack Obama | Democratic | 63.1 |
John McCain | Republican | 35.2 |
Candidate | Party | Vote % |
---|---|---|
John F. Reed | Democratic | 73.4 |
Robert G. Tingle | Republican | 26.6 |
Candidate | Party | Vote % |
---|---|---|
Patrick J. Kennedy | Democratic | 68.6 |
Jonathon P. Scott | Republican | 24.3 |
Candidate | Party | Vote % |
---|---|---|
James R. Langevin | Democratic | 70.1 |
Mark S. Zaccaria | Republican | 29.9 |
Candidate | Party | Vote % |
---|---|---|
John F. Kerry | Democratic | 59.4 |
George W. Bush | Republican | 38.6 |
Candidate | Party | Vote % |
---|---|---|
Patrick J. Kennedy | Democratic | 64.1 |
David W. Rogers | Republican | 35.8 |
Candidate | Party | Vote % |
---|---|---|
James R. Langevin | Democratic | 74.5 |
Arthur Chuck Barton III | Republican | 20.8 |
Lincoln Davenport Chafee is an American politician. He was mayor of Warwick, Rhode Island, from 1993 to 1999, a United States Senator from 1999 to 2007, and the 74th Governor of Rhode Island from 2011 to 2015. He was a Democrat from 2013 to 2019; in June 2019, The Boston Globe reported that he became a Libertarian, having previously been a Republican until September 2007 and an independent and then a Democrat in the interim. He is the last non-Democrat to hold statewide and/or Congressional office in Rhode Island.
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John Lester Hubbard Chafee was an American politician and officer in the United States Marine Corps. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 66th Governor of Rhode Island, as the Secretary of the Navy, and as a United States Senator.
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The 2006 United States Senate election in Rhode Island was held on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican Lincoln Chafee sought re-election to a second full term in office, the seat he had held since 1999 when he was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the death of his father John Chafee. He lost to Democratic nominee, former state Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse by a 7-point margin. Lincoln Chafee later left the Republican Party in September 2007 before running successfully as an Independent for Governor of Rhode Island in 2010.
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