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Rhode Island election preview, 2024
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Last updated: Oct. 12, 2024
Thousands of general elections are taking place across the United States on Nov. 5, 2024. Those elections include offices at the federal, state, and local levels. This is one of 50 pages in which Ballotpedia previews the elections happening in each state as part of the Daily Brew’s 50 states in 25 days series.
This page provides an overview of all elections happening in Rhode Island within our coverage scope on Nov. 5, 2024. Those elections include offices for one U.S. Senator, two U.S. Representatives, 38 state Senators, and 75 state Representatives. Additionally, voters will decide on five statewide ballot measures in Rhode Island. On this page, you will also find information regarding:
- How to vote in Rhode Island
- The elected offices that Rhode Island voters can expect to see on their ballots
- The races in Rhode Island that Ballotpedia is covering as battlegrounds
- The ballot measures that voters in Rhode Island will decide on
- Ballotpedia's Sample Ballot Lookup Tool
- The partisan balance of Rhode Island's congressional delegation and state government
- Past presidential election results in Rhode Island
- The competitiveness of legislative elections in Rhode Island
- The candidates who are on the ballot in Rhode Island
Voting information
- See also: Voting in Rhode Island
What's on the ballot?
2024 elections
- See also: Rhode Island elections, 2024
Rhode Island voters will elect one U.S. Senator and two U.S. Representatives. All three incumbents are running for re-election.
All 38 seats in the state Senate and all 75 seats in the state House are up for election. There are five open seats in the state Senate and six in the state House.
No state executive or state judicial offices are on the ballot.
Rhode Island is one of 26 states where we are expanding our local election coverage beyond the nation's largest cities, school districts, and state capitals. Ballotpedia will cover 208 local races with 590 total candidates for offices in Rhode Island.
Below is a list of Rhode Island elections covered by Ballotpedia in 2024. Click the links to learn more about each type:
| Rhode Island elections, 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Office | Elections? | More information |
| U.S. Senate | ✓ | Click here |
| U.S. House | ✓ | Click here |
| Congress special election | — | — |
| Governor | — | — |
| Other state executive | — | — |
| State Senate | ✓ | Click here |
| State House | ✓ | Click here |
| Special state legislative | — | — |
| State Supreme Court | — | — |
| Intermediate appellate courts | — | — |
| School boards | — | — |
| Municipal government | — | — |
| Recalls | — | — |
| Ballot measures | ✓ | Click here |
| Local ballot measures | ✓ | Click here |
Legend: ✓ election(s) / — no elections
Subject to Ballotpedia's scope
Your ballot
- See also: Sample Ballot Lookup
Noteworthy elections
As of Oct. 12, 2024, Ballotpedia has not highlighted any elections in Rhode Island.
Ballot measures
- See also: Rhode Island 2024 ballot measures
There are five statewide ballot measures on the ballot in Rhode Island.
| Type | Title | Description | Result | Yes Votes | No Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Question 1 | Call for a state constitutional convention to be held |
|
173,459 (38%) |
287,906 (62%) |
|
| Question 2 | Issue $160.5 million in bonds for improvements to higher education facilities |
|
281,672 (60%) |
189,173 (40%) |
|
| Question 3 | Issue $120 million in bonds to increase the availability of housing in the state |
|
308,949 (66%) |
160,536 (34%) |
|
| Question 4 | Issue $53 million in bonds for environmental-related infrastructure, local recreation projects, and for preservation of land |
|
315,973 (67%) |
152,478 (33%) |
|
| Question 5 | Issue $10 million in bonds for funding for 1:1 matching grants to continue the Cultural Arts and Economy Grant program administered by the Rhode Island state council on the arts, and for improvements and renovations to the Tomaquag Museum, the Newport Contemporary Ballet, and the Trinity Repertory Company |
|
263,551 (56%) |
203,769 (44%) |
There were 166 ballot measures on the ballot in Rhode Island from 1985 to 2022. Voters approved 131 measures and defeated 35.
Additionally, voters in Providence, Rhode Island will decide on one local ballot measure. Ballotpedia covers local ballot measures that appear on the ballot for voters within the 100 largest cities in the U.S., within state capitals, and throughout California.
State analysis
Partisan balance
Democrats represent both districts in Rhode Island's U.S. House delegation. In the U.S. House, Republicans have a 220-212 majority with three vacancies.
Both of Rhode Island's U.S. Senators—Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse—are Democrats. Democrats have a majority in the U.S. Senate. There are 47 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and four independents. Three independents caucus with the Democratic Party, and one other counts towards the Democratic majority for committee purposes.
Democrats have a 31-5 majority with two vacancies in the state Senate and a 65-9 majority with one independent member in the state House. Democrats have controlled both chambers since at least 1992.
Because the governor is a Democrat, Rhode Island is one of 17 states with a Democratic trifecta. It has held this status since 2013, when Gov. Lincoln Chafee (D) switched his party affiliation from independent to Democrat.
Rhode Island's attorney general and secretary of state are also Democrats. This makes Rhode Island one of 20 states with a Democratic triplex. It has held this status since 2013, when Chafee switched his party affiliation.
Past presidential election results in Rhode Island
How a state's counties vote in a presidential election and the size of those counties can provide additional insights into election outcomes at other levels of government including statewide and congressional races. Below, four categories are used to describe each county's voting pattern over the 2012, 2016, and 2020 presidential elections: Solid, Trending, Battleground, and New. Click [show] on the table below for examples:
| County-level voting pattern categories | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | |||||||
| Status | 2012 | 2016 | 2020 | ||||
| Solid Democratic | D | D | D | ||||
| Trending Democratic | R | D | D | ||||
| Battleground Democratic | D | R | D | ||||
| New Democratic | R | R | D | ||||
| Republican | |||||||
| Status | 2012 | 2016 | 2020 | ||||
| Solid Republican | R | R | R | ||||
| Trending Republican | D | R | R | ||||
| Battleground Republican | R | D | R | ||||
| New Republican | D | D | R | ||||
Following the 2020 presidential election, 84.5% of Rhode Islanders lived in one of the state's four Solid Democratic counties, which voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in every election from 2012 to 2020, and 15.5% lived in Kent County, the state's one Battleground Democratic county. Overall, Rhode Island was Solid Democratic, having voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2012, Hillary Clinton (D) in 2016, and Joe Biden (D) in 2020. Use the table below to view the total number of each type of county in Rhode Island following the 2020 election as well as the overall percentage of the state population located in each county type.
| Rhode Island county-level statistics, 2020 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solid Democratic | 4 | 84.5% | |||||
| Battleground Democratic | 1 | 15.5% | |||||
| Total voted Democratic | 5 | 100.0% | |||||
| Total voted Republican | 0 | 0.0% | |||||
State legislative competitiveness
According to Ballotpedia's annual state legislative competitiveness report, Rhode Island had a Competitiveness Index of 18.0, ranking it 42nd of the 44 states that held elections.
- Nine of the 113 seats up for election were open (8%).
- 12 of the 104 incumbents who ran for re-election faced contested primaries (12%).
- 39 of the 113 seats up for election were contested by both major parties (35%).
2010-2024
Hover over column headings to learn more about their contents.
| State Legislative Competitiveness Index in Rhode Island, 2010-2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Open seats | Incs. in contested primaries | Major party competition | Competitiveness Index | Rank | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | 13.3% | 34.7% | 62.8% | 36.9 | 14 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | 11.5% | 26.0% | 42.5% | 26.7 | 37 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | 7.1% | 17.1% | 26.5% | 16.9 | 42 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | 7.1% | 17.1% | 30.1% | 18.1 | 41 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | 13.3% | 20.4% | 38.1% | 23.9 | 40 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | 8.0% | 25.0% | 31.9% | 21.6 | 42 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | 12.4% | 30.3% | 58.4% | 33.7 | 25 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 8.0% | 11.5% | 34.5% | 18.0 | 42 / 44 | |||||||||||||||||||
In 2024
Hover over column headings to learn more about their contents. Click on headings for more state-specific information.
| State Legislative Competitiveness Index in Rhode Island, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chamber | Open seats | Incs. in contested primaries | Major party competition | Competitiveness Index | ||||||||||||||||||||
| House | 6.7% | 12.9% | 33.3% | 17.6 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Senate | 10.5% | 8.8% | 36.8% | 18.7 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 8.0% | 11.5% | 34.5% | 18.0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
List of candidates
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= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
| candidate | office | party | status |
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 Megan Cotter Incumbent | Democratic | Won General | |
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 Michael Chippendale Incumbent | Republican | Won General | |
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= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
See also
Footnotes
