Rhode Island

RHODE ISLAND

4 Electoral Votes

Population
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Rhode Island Board of Elections)

Total Population, July 1, 2007 est.	1,057,832
Registered Voters, Feb. 7, 2008	665,091

Dem. 236,404 (35.54%) Rep. 75,726 (11.39%) Unaffil. 352,961 (53.07%)
Rhode Island counties: Providence, Kent, Washington, Newport, Bristol.
39 cities and towns.

Government
Governor: Donald L. Carcieri (R) elected in 2002, re-elected in 2006.
State Legislature: Rhode Island General Assembly House: 100 seats Senate: 50 seats
Local: Cities and Towns NACO Counties
U.S. House: 2D - 1. P.Kennedy (D) | 2. J.Langevin (D).
U.S. Senate: Jack Reed (D) up for re-election in 2008, Sheldon Whitehouse (D) elected in 2006.

The Ocean State

State of Rhode Island
Board of Elections
Secretary of State

Green Party of RI
RI Republican Party
RI Democratic Party
RI Libertarian Party
Constitution Party-RI

Providence Journal
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Politics1-RI

Presidential Preference Primary -- Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Democrats
32 Delegates (21 Pledged, 11 Unpledged) and 4 Alternates.
0.79% of the 4,049 Delegate Votes.

Clinton | Obama

Republicans
20 Delegates: 3 RNC; 11 at-large; 6 by CD (3 x 2 CDs).
0.84% of the 2,380 Delegates.

McCain
former: Giuliani | Romney

Setting the Primary Date
Rhode Island looked set to become a late entrant in the February 5 stampede. On Oct. 30, 2007 in a special session the General Assembly passed S1152, a bill by Sen. Leonidas Raptakis (D-Coventry, East Greenwich, Warwick, West Warwick) to move the presidential primary from the first Tuesday in March to the first Tuesday in February (Feb. 5, 2008). (press release) (Earlier, on Feb. 15, 2007 in the regular 2006 session, Raptakis had introduced a similar measure, S0740. The Senate approved that measure on May 2, 2007 and referred it to the House Judiciary Committee, but it was not taken up). However, on Nov. 4, 2007 Gov. Don Carcieri (R) vetoed S1152, citing concerns of local election officials. (veto message)
(General Laws of Rhode Island -Chapter 17-12.1).

General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2004

Deadline to register to vote in the General Election: October 2, 2004.

+Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)
259,760

(59.42)

Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
169,046
(38.67)

Nader (Ref.) 4,651 (1.06)

Cobb (Grn.) 1,333
(0.30)

Badnarik (Lib.)
907

(0.21)

write in
845

(0.19)

Peroutka (Const.)
339

(0.08)

Parker (WWP)
253

(0.06)

Total........437,134

19,046 were mail ballots; the rest cast at polling places. 2004 Overview
Kerry carried Rhode Island with a plurality of 86,413 votes (20.75 percentage points).

[Party Primaries: Sept. 14, 2004]

Past Results

1996

Clinton (Dem.).........233,050
(59.71)

Dole (Rep.).............104,683
(26.82)

Perot (Ref.)..............43,723
(11.20)

Nader (Grn.)..............6,040
(1.55)

Others (4+scat.).........2,788
(0.71)

Total........390,284

1992

Clinton (Dem.)........213,299
(47.04)

Bush (Rep.)............104,683
(29.02)

Perot (PfP.).............43,723
(23.16)

Others (5+scat.)........3,533
(0.78)

Total........453,478

2000

+Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)
249,508

(60.99)

Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
130,555

(31.91)

Nader/LaDuke (Grn.)
25,052

(6.12)

Buchanan/Foster (Ref.)
2,273

(0.56)

Browne/Olivier (Lib.)
742

(0.18)

Hagelin/Goldhaber (NLP)
271

(0.07)

Moorehead/LaRiva(WWP)
199

(0.05)

Phillips/Frazier (Const.)
97

(0.02)

McReynolds/Hollis (Soc.)
52

(0.01)

Harris/Trowe (SWP)
34

(0.01)

Write In 329 (0.08)

Total........409,112

2000 Overview
Gore comfortably won Rhode Island's four electoral votes, gaining a plurality of 118,953 votes (29.08 percentage points). Nader's 6-percent showing qualified the Green Party for ballot status in the next statewide election.

Notes: Registration deadline to vote a full ballot was Oct. 7, 2000. People registering to vote from Oct. 8 up to and including Nov. 7 (16,505 of the total 671,612) were eligible to vote for President and Vice President only.

Presidential Preference Primary -- Tuesday, March 2, 2004

General Laws of Rhode Island -Chapter 17-12.1.

Democrats

ballot

	1st CD	2nd CD
John F. Kerry	14,540	10,926	25,466	71.22%
John Edwards	3,474	3,161	6,635	18.55%
Howard Dean	877	548	1,425	3.99%
Dennis J. Kucinich	599	455	1,054	2.95%
Uncommitted	255	160	415	1.16%
Joe Lieberman	166	137	303	<1%
Wesley K. Clark	130	107	237	<1%
Write-In	95	66	161	<1%
Lyndon H. Larouche, Jr.	40	23	63	<1%
			35,759

32 Delegates (21 Pledged and 11 Unpledged) and 4 Alternates

Republicans
George W. Bush 2,152, Uncommitted 314, Write-In 69