United States presidential elections in Rhode Island

Presidential elections in Rhode Island

Number of elections	59
Voted Democratic	25
Voted Republican	20
Voted Whig	4
Voted Democratic-Republican	5
Voted Federalist	4
Voted other	1 [a]
Voted for winning candidate	40
Voted for losing candidate	18

Following is a table of United States presidential elections in Rhode Island, ordered by year. Since its admission to statehood in 1790, Rhode Island has participated in every U.S. presidential election.

Winners of the state are in bold. The shading refers to the state winner, and not the national winner.

Elections from 1864 to present

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Other national candidates [b]	Votes	Percent	Electoral Votes	Notes
2020 [1]	Joe Biden	307,486	59.39	Donald Trump	199,922	38.61	—			4
2016 [2]	Donald Trump [c]	180,543	38.90	Hillary Clinton	252,525	54.41	—			4
2012 [3]	Barack Obama	279,677	62.70	Mitt Romney	157,204	35.24	—			4
2008 [4]	Barack Obama	296,571	62.86	John McCain	165,391	35.06	—			4
2004 [5]	George W. Bush	169,046	38.67	John Kerry	259,765	59.42	—			4
2000 [6]	George W. Bush [c]	130,555	31.91	Al Gore	249,508	60.99	—			4
1996 [7]	Bill Clinton	233,050	59.71	Bob Dole	104,683	26.82	Ross Perot	43,723	11.20	4
1992	Bill Clinton	213,299	47.04	George H. W. Bush	131,601	29.02	Ross Perot	105,045	23.16	4
1988	George H. W. Bush	177,761	43.93	Michael Dukakis	225,123	55.64	—			4
1984	Ronald Reagan	212,080	51.66	Walter Mondale	197,106	48.02	—			4
1980	Ronald Reagan	154,793	37.2	Jimmy Carter	198,342	47.67	John B. Anderson	59,819	14.38	4
1976	Jimmy Carter	227,636	55.36	Gerald Ford	181,249	44.08	—			4
1972	Richard Nixon	220,383	53.00	George McGovern	194,645	46.81	—			4
1968	Richard Nixon	122,359	31.78	Hubert Humphrey	246,518	64.03	George Wallace	15,678	4.07	4
1964	Lyndon B. Johnson	315,463	80.87	Barry Goldwater	74,615	19.13	—			4
1960	John F. Kennedy	258,032	63.63	Richard Nixon	147,502	36.37	—			4
1956	Dwight D. Eisenhower	225,819	58.26	Adlai Stevenson II	161,790	41.74	T. Coleman Andrews/ Unpledged Electors [d]	—	—	4
1952	Dwight D. Eisenhower	210,935	50.89	Adlai Stevenson II	203,293	49.05	—			4
1948	Harry S. Truman	188,736	57.59	Thomas E. Dewey	135,787	41.44	Strom Thurmond	—	—	4
1944	Franklin D. Roosevelt	175,356	58.59	Thomas E. Dewey	123,487	41.26	—			4
1940	Franklin D. Roosevelt	182,182	56.73	Wendell Willkie	138,653	43.17	—			4
1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	165,238	53.1	Alf Landon	125,031	40.18	—			4
1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	146,604	55.08	Herbert Hoover	115,266	43.31	—			4
1928	Herbert Hoover	117,522	49.55	Al Smith	118,973	50.16	—			5
1924	Calvin Coolidge	125,286	59.63	John W. Davis	76,606	36.46	Robert M. La Follette	7,628	3.63	5
1920	Warren G. Harding	107,463	63.97	James M. Cox	55,062	32.78	Parley P. Christensen	—	—	5
1916	Woodrow Wilson	40,394	46.00	Charles E. Hughes	44,858	51.08	—			5
1912	Woodrow Wilson	30,412	39.04	Theodore Roosevelt	16,878	21.67	William H. Taft	27,703	35.56	5
1908	William H. Taft	43,942	60.76	William Jennings Bryan	24,706	34.16	—			4
1904	Theodore Roosevelt	41,605	60.60	Alton B. Parker	24,839	36.18	—			4
1900	William McKinley	33,784	59.74	William Jennings Bryan	19,812	35.04	—			4
1896	William McKinley	37,437	68.33	William Jennings Bryan	14,459	26.39	—			4
1892	Grover Cleveland	24,336	45.75	Benjamin Harrison	26,975	50.71	James B. Weaver	228	0.43	4
1888	Benjamin Harrison [c]	21,969	53.88	Grover Cleveland	17,530	42.99	—			4
1884	Grover Cleveland	12,391	37.81	James G. Blaine	19,030	58.07	—			4
1880	James A. Garfield	18,195	62.24	Winfield S. Hancock	10,779	36.87	James B. Weaver	236	0.81	4
1876	Rutherford B. Hayes [c]	15,787	59.29	Samuel J. Tilden	10,712	40.23	—			4
1872	Ulysses S. Grant	13,665	71.94	Horace Greeley	5,329	28.06	—			4
1868	Ulysses S. Grant	13,017	66.7	Horatio Seymour	6,494	33.3	—			4
1864	Abraham Lincoln	14,349	62.2	George B. McClellan	8,718	37.8	—			4

Election of 1860

The election of 1860 was a complex realigning election in which the breakdown of the previous two-party alignment culminated in four parties each competing for influence in different parts of the country. The result of the election, with the victory of an ardent opponent of slavery, spurred the secession of eleven states and brought about the American Civil War.

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Electoral Votes
1860	Abraham Lincoln	12,244	61.4	Stephen A. Douglas	7,707	38.6	John C. Breckinridge	no ballots		John Bell	no ballots		4

Elections from 1828 to 1856

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Other national candidates [b]	Votes	Percent	Electoral Votes	Notes
1856	James Buchanan	6,680	33.70	John C. Frémont	11,467	57.85	Millard Fillmore	1,675	8.45	4
1852	Franklin Pierce	8,735	51.37	Winfield Scott	7,626	44.85	John P. Hale	644	3.79	4
1848	Zachary Taylor	6,779	60.77	Lewis Cass	3,646	32.68	Martin Van Buren	730	6.54	4
1844	James K. Polk	4,867	39.58	Henry Clay	7,322	59.55	—			4
1840	William Henry Harrison	5,278	61.22	Martin Van Buren	3,301	38.29	—			4
1836	Martin Van Buren	2,964	52.24	William Henry Harrison	2,710	47.76	various [e]			4
1832	Andrew Jackson	2,126	43.07	Henry Clay	2,810	56.93	William Wirt	no ballots		4
1828	Andrew Jackson	820	22.91	John Quincy Adams	2,755	76.96	—			4

Election of 1824

The election of 1824 was a complex realigning election following the collapse of the prevailing Democratic-Republican Party, resulting in four different candidates each claiming to carry the banner of the party, and competing for influence in different parts of the country. The election was the only one in history to be decided by the House of Representatives under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution after no candidate secured a majority of the electoral vote. It was also the only presidential election in which the candidate who received a plurality of electoral votes (Andrew Jackson) did not become president, a source of great bitterness for Jackson and his supporters, who proclaimed the election of Adams a corrupt bargain.

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Electoral Votes
1824	Andrew Jackson	no ballots		John Quincy Adams	2,145	91.47	Henry Clay	no ballots		William H. Crawford	200	8.53	4

Elections from 1788 to 1820

In the election of 1820, incumbent President James Monroe ran effectively unopposed, winning all 4 of Rhode Island's electoral votes, and all electoral votes nationwide except one vote in New Hampshire. To the extent that a popular vote was held, it was primarily directed to filling the office of vice president.

Year	Winner (nationally)	Runner-up (nationally)	Electoral Votes	Notes
1820	James Monroe	—	4	Monroe effectively ran unopposed.
1816	James Monroe	Rufus King	4
1812	James Madison	DeWitt Clinton	4
1808	James Madison	Charles C. Pinckney	4
1804	Thomas Jefferson	Charles C. Pinckney	4
1800	Thomas Jefferson	John Adams	4
1796	John Adams	Thomas Jefferson	4
1792	George Washington	—	4	Washington effectively ran unopposed.
1788-89	George Washington	—	n/a	Washington effectively ran unopposed, but Rhode Island did not participate in the election since it had not yet ratified the Constitution

See also

• Elections in Rhode Island

Notes

1. George Washington, 1792.
2. For purposes of these lists, other national candidates are defined as those who won at least one electoral vote, or won at least ten percent of the vote in multiple states.
3. Won the electoral college while losing the popular vote
4. Was allied with a slate of unpledged electors in Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina
5. Three other candidates ran and received electoral votes nationally as part of the unsuccessful Whig strategy to defeat Martin Van Buren by running four candidates with local appeal in different regions of the country. The others were Hugh Lawson White, Daniel Webster, and Willie Person Mangum. None of these candidates appeared on the ballot in Rhode Island.

References

1. "Presidential Election Results: Biden Wins". The New York Times . 3 November 2020. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
2. 2016 official Federal Election Commission report.
3. 2012 official Federal Election Commission report.
4. 2008 official Federal Election Commission report.
5. "Federal Elections 2004: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives" (PDF). Federal Elections Commission. May 2005.
6. "2000 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
7. "1996 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-03-05.