Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: Rhode Island Congressional Seats

October 29, 2012

By Ballotpedia's Congressional team

Rhode Island's Congressional Elections in 2012
U.S. Senate Election?	U.S. House seats	Possible competitive races?
Yes	2	1

PROVIDENCE: Rhode Island: Rhode Island has two U.S. House seats and one U.S. Senate seat on the ballot in 2012. Both U.S. House incumbents are running for re-election and face at least one challenger in the general election. The incumbent for the U.S. Senate seat is running for re-election and will face six challengers.

Currently, the Democratic Party holds both U.S. House and U.S. Senate seats.

In Rhode Island, all of the polling locations open at 7 AM and all polls close at 8 PM local time.

See also: State Poll Opening and Closing Times (2012)

U.S. Senate

Incumbent Sheldon Whitehouse (D) is running for re-election and was first elected to the office in 2006. Both Whitehouse and Republican nominee Barry Hinckley ran unopposed in their primaries on September 11. In addition to Hinckley, five Independent candidates are also seeking the open Senate seat. According to race ratings, Rhode Island's U.S. Senate race is considered a solid Democratic seat, as Whitehouse is expected to coast to re-election.

State	General Election Candidates	Incumbent	2012 Winner	Partisan Switch?
Rhode Island Class 1 Senate seat	Sheldon Whitehouse Barry Hinckley Todd Giroux Dany LaPorte Christopher D. Reynolds David J. Slavin Gregory Raposa	Sheldon Whitehouse	Pending	Pending

U.S. House

While the 1st Congressional District is 65 percent Democratic, incumbent David Cicilline is still considered vulnerable in his race against Brendan Doherty. Cicilline, who was first elected in 2010, has outraised Doherty. Cicilline won his 2010 election by less than 10,000 votes.

Here is a complete list of U.S. House candidates appearing on the general election ballot in Rhode Island:

Candidates running by District

District	General Election Candidates	Incumbent	2012 Winner	Partisan Switch?
1st	David N. Cicilline Brendan Doherty C. Michael Blake Kenneth A. Capalbo David S. Vogel	David N. Cicilline	Pending	Pending
2nd	James R. Langevin Michael G. Riley Abel G. Collins	James R. Langevin	Pending	Pending

Partisan breakdown by district

Members of the U.S. House from Rhode Island-- Partisan Breakdown
Party		As of November 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	2	2
	Republican Party	0	0
Total		2	2

Comparison of new and old redistricting maps

Congressional Redistricting Map, approved February 2012  For more information, view Redistricting in Rhode Island.
This is the approved congressional map using the 2010 Census. This is the approved congressional map using the 2000 Census.

Articles

• Doherty and Cicilline trade jabs in Rhode Island's 1st District October 15
• 2012 elections review: Seven incumbents fall in Rhode Island legislative primaries September 12
• 2012 elections preview: Rhode Island voters to select winners in congressional, legislative primaries September 10

See also

• Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: Rhode Island State Legislature
• Ballotpedia:2012 general election preview articles
• November 6, 2012 election results
• United States Congressional election results, 2012
• United States House of Representatives elections in Rhode Island, 2012
  • Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District elections, 2012
  • Rhode Island's 2nd Congressional District elections, 2012
• Rhode Island elections, 2012
• National contested primary average during the 2012 U.S. congressional elections