. Island Rhode Island at a Glance State Profile - Gov. Carcieri (R) - Sen. Reed (D) - Sen. Chafee (R) Presidential Politics Congressional Districting - 01 - Kennedy (D) - 02 - Langevin (D) Almanac 2004 Home - States & Districts - Elected Officials - Committees - Election Cycles - Guide To Usage Almanac 2002 Almanac 2000 Almanac 1998 For district profiles and additional information on the elected officials of Rhode Island, please use the pull-down menu above.

Rhode Island is almost always one of the most Democratic states in presidential elections--over the last generation, the most Democratic. It voted 61%-32% for Al Gore in 2000. Bush carried the towns of East Greenwich and (by 6 votes) Scituate; Gore carried every other city and town. White Protestants, once the Republican base here, voted 51%-41% for Gore; white Catholics voted 59%-35% for Gore. Rhode Island's Catholic majority is heavily Democratic and, interestingly, pro-choice on abortion: In states where Catholics are beleaguered minorities they may stand together and strongly oppose abortion; here, where they're the strong majority and where the mostly Mediterranean Catholics traditionally didn't pay strict attention to the mostly Irish priests, they come out against the church position.

Rhode Island holds a presidential primary the same day as Massachusetts, usually with the lowest turnout rate in the nation. It has not won much attention. In 1992 only 66,000 of 1 million Rhode Islanders voted in both parties' primaries; in 2000, when the primary was held on March 7 and the outcomes not entirely clear, 82,000 voted. Al Gore beat Bill Bradley 57%-41%--one of Bradley's better performances--and John McCain beat George W. Bush 60%-36%.

2000 Presidential Vote
Gore (D)	249,508	(61%)
Bush (R)	130,555	(32%)
Nader (Green)	25,052	(6%)
Other	3,668	(1%)

2000 Republican Primary
McCain (R)	21,754	(60%)
Bush (R)	13,170	(36%)
Other	1,196	(3%)

2000 Democratic Primary
Gore (D)	26,801	(57%)
Bradley (D)	19,000	(41%)
Other	1,043	(2%)

1996 Presidential Vote
Clinton (D)	233,050	(60%)
Dole (R)	104,683	(27%)
Perot (I)	43,723	(11%)
Other	8,674	(2%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in Rhode Island, please see the Almanac 2000 online.