 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 60.2%[1] 0.6pp | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 County results Municipality results Congressional district results
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The2016 United States presidential election in Rhode Island took place on November 8, 2016, as part of the2016 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus theDistrict of Columbia participated.Rhode Island voters chose four electors to represent them in theElectoral College via a popular vote.
Prior to the election, Rhode Island was considered to be a state Clinton would win or a safe blue state. Rhode Island, like most of New England, is strongly Democratic. Its voters tend to be liberal on social issues, most of its population lives in urban cities, its voting age population skews younger, and the Democratic Party has been regarded as the state's dominant party since the 1930s.[2][3][4]
Although Clinton easily won Rhode Island, her 15.5% margin was significantly weaker than Obama's 27% margin 4 years earlier. Trump notably became the first Republican nominee for president to win a county since Reagan won the state in1984.
Four candidates appeared on the Democratic presidential primary ballot:[5]
| Rhode Island Democratic primary, April 26, 2016 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Popular vote | Estimated delegates | |||
| Count | Percentage | Pledged | Unpledged | Total | |
| Bernie Sanders | 66,993 | 54.71% | 13 | 0 | 13 |
| Hillary Clinton | 52,749 | 43.08% | 11 | 9 | 20 |
| Mark Stewart | 236 | 0.19% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rocky De La Fuente | 145 | 0.12% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Write-in | 673 | 0.55% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Uncommitted | 1,662 | 1.36% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 122,458 | 100% | 24 | 9 | 33 |
| Source:[6][7][8] | |||||
Three candidates appeared on the Republican presidential primary ballot:[5]
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Actual delegate count | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bound | Unbound | Total | |||
| Donald Trump | 39,221 | 63.7% | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| John Kasich | 14,963 | 24.3% | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Ted Cruz | 6,416 | 10.4% | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Uncommitted | 417 | 0.7% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marco Rubio(withdrawn) | 382 | 0.6% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Write-in | 215 | 0.3% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unprojected delegates: | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total: | 61,614 | 100.00% | 19 | 0 | 19 |
| Source:Rhode Island Board of Elections | |||||
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Times[9] | Safe D | November 6, 2016 |
| CNN[10] | Safe D | November 4, 2016 |
| Cook Political Report[11] | Safe D | November 7, 2016 |
| Electoral-vote.com[12] | Safe D | November 8, 2016 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[13] | Safe D | November 7, 2016 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[14] | Safe D | November 7, 2016 |
| RealClearPolitics[15] | Likely D | November 8, 2016 |
| Fox News[16] | Safe D | November 7, 2016 |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Hillary Clinton | 252,525 | 54.41% | |
| Republican | Donald Trump | 180,543 | 38.90% | |
| Libertarian | Gary Johnson | 14,746 | 3.18% | |
| Green | Jill Stein | 6,220 | 1.34% | |
| Write-in | Evan McMullin | 759 | 0.16% | |
| American Delta | Rocky De La Fuente | 671 | 0.14% | |
| Write-in | Mike Maturen | 46 | 0.01% | |
| Write-in | Darrell Castle | 30 | 0.01% | |
| Write-in | Other write-ins | 8,604 | 1.85% | |
| Total votes | 464,144 | 100.00% | ||
| County | Hillary Clinton Democratic | Donald Trump Republican | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Bristol | 14,609 | 57.35% | 8,965 | 35.19% | 1,901 | 7.46% | 5,644 | 22.16% | 25,475 |
| Kent | 37,788 | 46.05% | 38,336 | 46.72% | 5,929 | 7.23% | -548 | -0.67% | 82,053 |
| Newport | 22,851 | 55.67% | 15,077 | 36.73% | 3,117 | 7.60% | 7,774 | 18.94% | 41,045 |
| Providence | 142,899 | 57.51% | 90,882 | 36.58% | 14,693 | 5.91% | 52,017 | 20.93% | 248,474 |
| Washington | 33,741 | 50.84% | 27,230 | 41.03% | 5,398 | 8.13% | 6,511 | 9.81% | 66,369 |
| Totals | 252,525 | 54.41% | 180,543 | 38.90% | 31,076 | 6.69% | 71,982 | 15.51% | 464,144 |
Swing by county
Trend relative to the state by county
County flipsDemocratic Hold | Republican Hold Gain from Democratic
|
Clinton won both congressional districts.[20]
| District | Clinton | Trump | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 59% | 34% | David Cicilline |
| 2nd | 50% | 43% | James Langevin |
Donald Trump flipped several municipalities that had not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since the 1980s includingBurrillville,Coventry,Exeter,Foster,Glocester,Hopkinton,Johnston,Lincoln,North Smithfield,Richmond,Smithfield, andWest Warwick. Meanwhile,Hillary Clinton was able to flipEast Greenwich which voted forMitt Romney in 2012. This was the worst Democratic performance in Burrillville since 1920 and the worst Democratic performance in Johnston since 1924.
As of the2024 presidential election, this is the solitary election since1984 where any county in Rhode Island voted Republican (Kent County narrowly voted for Trump), and the most recent election where Lincoln voted Republican.
State and district results of the2016 United States presidential election | ||
|---|---|---|
|  | |
.jpg)
