Rhode Island was won by Democratic nominee Obama by a 27.46% margin of victory. This was the seventh straight win for the Democratic Party in Rhode Island on the presidential level. It was also the seventh time in a row that the Democratic nominee for president won all 5 counties – a streak which would be broken when Donald Trump won Kent County in 2016[2] – and the sixth consecutive time that a Republican nominee failed to break 40% of the vote in Rhode Island. Rhode Island has been a safe Democratic state since 1988, and has only voted for a Republican nominee four times since 1928 (all of which in landslide elections). State politics are dominated by the Providence and Warwick metropolitan areas, and Providence County gave Obama his largest margin in the state at 34.92%. However, whiteworking class voters in the inland and diverse, urban voters on the coast alike consistently vote Democratic, enough to provide the Democratic nominee with landslide margins in each election.[3]
Primary elections
Democratic primary
The 2012 Rhode Island Democratic primary was held April 24, 2012. Rhode Island awarded 40 delegates proportionally.
No candidate ran against incumbent PresidentBarack Obama in Rhode Island's Democratic presidential preference primary. Obama received 6,759 votes, or 83.38% of the vote, with 1,133 uncommitted votes (13.98%) and 214 write-in votes (2.64%)
At the Rhode Island Democratic state convention held on June 21, 2012, 35 delegates were awarded to Barack Obama, with 5 delegates remaining unannounced.[4]
Rhode Island 2012 Democratic presidential primary[4]
^This figure is calculated by dividing the total number of votes cast in 2012 (446,049) by an estimate of the number of registered voters in Rhode Island in 2012 (732,860).
For the number of votes cast, see "Official 2012 Presidential General Election Results". Rhode Island Board of Elections. November 26, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
For the estimated number of registered voters, see "STATEWIDE - VOTER REGISTRATION SUMMARY" (PDF). Rhode Island Board of Elections. November 14, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 26, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
^"Rhode Island 2016 Presidential And State Election Results". NPR.org. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
^"The Road to 270: Rhode Island". 270toWin.com. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
^ a b"Rhode Island Democrat". The Green Papers. Retrieved November 14, 2012.