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United States Senate election in Rhode Island, 2024 (September 10 Democratic primary)

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U.S. Senate, Rhode Island
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: June 26, 2024
Primary: September 10, 2024
General: November 5, 2024
Pre-election incumbent:
Sheldon Whitehouse (Democratic)
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voting in Rhode Island
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic
DDHQ and The Hill: Safe Democratic
Inside Elections: Solid Democratic
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024
See also
U.S. Senate, Rhode Island
U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd
Rhode Island elections, 2024
U.S. Congress elections, 2024
U.S. Senate elections, 2024
U.S. House elections, 2024

A Democratic Party primary took place on September 10, 2024, in Rhode Island to determine which Democratic candidate would run in the state's general election on November 5, 2024.

Incumbent Sheldon Whitehouse advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Rhode Island.

Thirty-four of 100 seats in the U.S. Senate were up for election in 2024, including one special election. At the time of the election, Democrats had a 51-49 majority.[1] Of the seats up for election in 2024, Democrats held 19, Republicans held 11, and independents held four. As of May 2024, eight members of the U.S. Senate had announced they were not running for re-election.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
June 26, 2024
September 10, 2024
November 5, 2024


Heading into the election, the incumbent was Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat), who was first elected in 2006.

A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election.

Rhode Island utilizes a semi-closed primary system. Unaffiliated voters may vote in a party's primary without affiliating with that party. Voters that are affiliated with a party at the time of the primary election may only vote in that party's primary.[2][3][4]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

This page focuses on Rhode Island's United States Senate Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the state's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Candidates and election results

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Rhode Island

Incumbent Sheldon Whitehouse defeated Michael Costa in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Rhode Island on September 10, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Sheldon Whitehouse
Sheldon Whitehouse
 
83.8
 
49,401
Image of Michael Costa
Michael Costa
 
16.2
 
9,572

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 58,973
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Candidate profiles

There were no candidate profiles created for this race. Candidate profiles would have appeared here as candidates completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Rhode Island

Election information in Rhode Island: April 2, 2024, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

  • In-person: March 3, 2024
  • By mail: Received by March 3, 2024
  • Online: March 3, 2024

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

N/A

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

  • In-person: March 12, 2024
  • By mail: Received by March 12, 2024
  • Online: March 12, 2024

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

  • In-person: April 2, 2024
  • By mail: Received by April 2, 2024

Was early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What were the early voting start and end dates?

March 13, 2024 to April 1, 2024

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (EST)


Campaign finance

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Sheldon Whitehouse Democratic Party $6,826,217 $6,329,589 $1,265,388 As of December 31, 2024
Michael Costa Democratic Party $252,336 $252,336 $0 As of September 30, 2024

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2024. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates in Rhode Island in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Rhode Island, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates, 2024
State Office Party Signatures required Signature formula Filing fee Filing fee formula Filing deadline Source
Rhode Island U.S. Senate All candidates 1,000 From statute N/A N/A 6/26/2024 (declaration of candidacy due) Source

Election analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about demographics, past elections, and partisan control of the state.

  • Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the state.
  • Statewide elections - Information about recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections in the state.
  • State partisanship - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.
  • Demographics - Information about the state's demographics and how they compare to the country as a whole.


See also: Presidential voting trends in Rhode Island and The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Cook PVI by congressional district

Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index for Rhode Island, 2024
District Incumbent Party PVI
Rhode Island's 1st Gabe Amo Electiondot.png Democratic D+12
Rhode Island's 2nd Seth Magaziner Electiondot.png Democratic D+4


2020 presidential results by 2024 congressional district lines

2020 presidential results in congressional districts based on 2024 district lines, Rhode Island[5]
District Joe Biden Democratic Party Donald Trump Republican Party
Rhode Island's 1st 63.8% 34.7%
Rhode Island's 2nd 56.1% 42.4%


2012-2020

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:


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.

Historical voting trends

Rhode Island presidential election results (1900-2020)

  • 21 Democratic wins
  • 10 Republican wins
Year 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Winning Party R R R D R R R D D D D D D R R D D D R D D R D D D D D D D D D

This section details the results of the five most recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections held in the state.

U.S. Senate elections

See also: List of United States Senators from Rhode Island

The table below details the vote in the five most recent U.S. Senate races in Rhode Island.

U.S. Senate election results in Rhode Island
Race Winner Runner up
2020 66.6%Democratic Party 33.4%Republican Party
2018 61.6%Democratic Party 38.4%Republican Party
2014 70.6%Democratic Party 29.3%Republican Party
2012 64.8%Democratic Party 35.0%Republican Party
2008 73.4%Democratic Party 26.6%Republican Party
Average 66.6 33.4

Gubernatorial elections

See also: Governor of Rhode Island

The table below details the vote in the five most recent gubernatorial elections in Rhode Island.

Gubernatorial election results in Rhode Island
Race Winner Runner up
2022 57.9%Democratic Party 38.9%Republican Party
2018 52.6%Democratic Party 37.2%Republican Party
2014 40.7%Democratic Party 36.2%Republican Party
2010 36.1%Grey.png (Independent) 33.6%Republican Party
2006 51.0%Republican Party 49.0%Democratic Party
Average 47.0 40.2
See also: Party control of Rhode Island state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Rhode Island's congressional delegation as of May 2024.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Rhode Island
Party U.S. Senate U.S. House Total
Democratic 2 2 4
Republican 0 0 0
Independent 0 0 0
Vacancies 0 0 0
Total 2 2 4

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Rhode Island's top four state executive offices as of May 2024.

State executive officials in Rhode Island, May 2024
Office Officeholder
Governor Democratic Party Daniel McKee
Lieutenant Governor Democratic Party Sabina Matos
Secretary of State Democratic Party Gregg Amore
Attorney General Democratic Party Peter Neronha

State legislature

Rhode Island State Senate

Party As of February 2024
     Democratic Party 32
     Republican Party 5
     Other 0
     Vacancies 1
Total 38

Rhode Island House of Representatives

Party As of February 2024
     Democratic Party 65
     Republican Party 9
     Independent 0
     Other 1
     Vacancies 0
Total 75

Trifecta control

The table below shows the state's trifecta status from 1992 until the 2024 election.

Rhode Island Party Control: 1992-2024
Fifteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Governor D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R I I D D D D D D D D D D D D
Senate D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
House D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D

The table below details demographic data in Rhode Island and compares it to the broader United States as of 2022.

Demographic Data for Rhode Island
Rhode Island United States
Population 1,097,379 331,449,281
Land area (sq mi) 1,033 3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White 74.6% 65.9%
Black/African American 6.2% 12.5%
Asian 3.5% 5.8%
Native American 0.4% 0.8%
Pacific Islander 0.1% 0.2%
Other (single race) 6.9% 6%
Multiple 8.4% 8.8%
Hispanic/Latino 16.7% 18.7%
Education
High school graduation rate 89.4% 89.1%
College graduation rate 36.3% 34.3%
Income
Median household income $81,370 $75,149
Persons below poverty level 7.2% 8.8%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2017-2022).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Two Independents caucused with the Democratic Party. Another independent, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, counted toward the Democratic majority for committee purposes.
  2. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Primary Election Types," accessed July 22, 2024
  3. ↑ Bill Track 50, "RI H7662," accessed July 21, 2024
  4. ↑ State of Rhode Island General Assembly, "R.I. Gen. Laws § 17–9.1-23 ," accessed July 22, 2024
  5. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' presidential results by congressional district for 2020, 2016, and 2012," accessed December 15, 2023


Rhode Island's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Jack Reed (D)
Sheldon Whitehouse (D)
Representatives
District 1
Gabe Amo (D)
District 2
Democratic Party (4)


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