The Rhode Island Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. Joseph McNamara is the chair of the party. The party has dominated politics in Rhode Island for the past five decades.

Democratic Party dominance in Rhode Island

For nearly five decades, Rhode Island has been one of the United States' most solidly Democratic states. Since 1928, it has voted for the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

presidential candidate only four times (

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War I ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

and

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

and

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

) and has elected only two Republicans (former

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

John H. Chafee John Lester Hubbard Chafee ( ; October 22, 1922 – October 24, 1999) was an American politician and officer in the United States Marine Corps. A member of the Republican Party (United States), he served as the 66th Governor of Rhode Island, a ...

and his son,

Lincoln Chafee Lincoln Davenport Chafee ( ; born March 26, 1953) is an American politician. He was mayor of Warwick, Rhode Island from 1993 to 1999, a United States Senator from 1999 to 2007, and the 74th Governor of Rhode Island from 2011 to 2015. He was a m ...

, though the younger Chafee became a Democrat during his later governorship) to the U.S. Senate since 1934. Rhode Island sent no Republicans to the U.S. House of Representatives from 1940 until 1980, when one Republican and one Democrat were elected. In 1980, Rhode Island was one of only six states to be won by incumbent president

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

. However, Republican

Edward DiPrete Edward Daniel DiPrete (born July 8, 1934) is an American Republican Party politician and convicted felon from Rhode Island. He served as the 70th Governor of Rhode Island for three two-year terms, serving from 1985 to 1991. Convicted of numero ...

was elected governor in 1984 and

narrowly carried the state in the 1984 presidential election. In the 2000 presidential election, Democrat

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic ...

won 61% of the popular vote in the state. An analysis of

Gallup Gallup may refer to: * Gallup, Inc., a firm founded by George Gallup, well known for its opinion poll * Gallup (surname), a surname *Gallup, New Mexico, a city in New Mexico, United States ** Gallup station, an Amtrak train in downtown Gallup, New ...

polling data shows the Democratic advantage over the Republican Party in Rhode Island voters plunged between 2008 and 2011. The Democratic advantage over the Republican Party in Rhode Island slid from 37 percentage points in 2008 to 16, according to Gallup. Rhode Island went from the most Democratic state in the country in 2008 to the 7th most Democratic in 2011.

Elected officials

U.S. Senate

Democrats have controlled both of Rhode Island's seats in the U.S. Senate since

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

: File:Sheldon Whitehouse, official portrait, 116th congress (cropped).jpg, Junior U.S. Senator File:Senator Jack Reed official photo (cropped).jpg, Senior U.S. Senator

U.S. House of Representatives

Out of the 2 seats Rhode Island is apportioned in the U.S. House of Representatives, both are held by Democrats:

Statewide officials

Democrats control all five of the elected statewide offices: *

Dan McKee Daniel James McKee (born June 16, 1951) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 76th governor of Rhode Island since March 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Rhode Island's 69th lieutenant governor from 2015 to ...

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

: Sabina Matos * Secretary of State:

Nellie Gorbea Nellie M. Gorbea (born July 12, 1967) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served as the Secretary of State of Rhode Island since January 2015. Gorbea is the first Hispanic to win statewide office in New England. ...

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Peter Neronha Peter Franz Neronha (born December 17, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician from Jamestown, Rhode Island who currently serves as the Attorney General of Rhode Island. He previously served as the United States Attorney for the District of ...

* General Treasurer:

Seth Magaziner Seth Michael Magaziner (born July 22, 1983) is an American investment professional and politician who is the U.S. representative for . He served as the 31st General Treasurer of Rhode Island from 2015 until 2023. A member of the Democratic Party ...

State Legislature

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for ex ...

: Dominick J. Ruggerio **Senate President Pro Tempore: Hanna Gallo **Senate Majority Leader:

Michael McCaffrey Michael J. McCaffrey (born December 18, 1963) is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Rhode Island Senate representing District 29 since January 2003. He has been the Rhode Island Senate Majority Leader since March 23, 2017. McC ...

**Senate Majority Whip: Maryellen Goodwin **Senate Deputy Majority Whip:

Ana Quezada Ana B. Quezada is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Rhode Island Senate representing District 2 (Providence) since January 2017. She is a code enforcement officer for the Providence Department of Inspection and Standards. Be ...

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hunger ...

Joe Shekarchi K. Joseph Shekarchi (born May 17, 1962) is an American politician currently serving as the Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives. A Democrat, he has represented District 23 in Warwick since January 1, 2013. He was chairman of the ...

**House Speaker Pro Tempore:

Brian Patrick Kennedy Brian Patrick Kennedy (born January 3, 1961, in Westerly, Rhode Island) is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives representing District 38 since January 2003. Kennedy served consecutively fro ...

**House Majority Leader:

Christopher Blazejewski Christopher R. Blazejewski (born December 3, 1979) is an American politician serving as a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives representing District 2 since January 2011. He served as deputy whip until 2021 when he was elected majo ...

**House Majority Whip: Katherine Kazarian

Party leadership and staff

The leadership of the Rhode Island Democratic Party, as of 2021, is as follows:

State committee officers

*Chairman: Joseph McNamara *Vice Chairman:

Grace Diaz Grace Diaz (born February 21, 1957) is an American politician who is a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic State Representative from Rhode Island representing District 11 in the city of Providence, Rhode Island. She was the first Dominica ...

National Committee Persons

*National Committeeman: Hon. Joseph R. Paolino, Jr. *National Committeewomen: Edna O'Neill Mattson

Staff

*Senior Advisor and Chief Strategist: Kate Coyne-McCoy *Data Director: Jacob Jackson *Communications Coordinator: Victoria Gu *Comptroller: Susann Della Rosa

Previous election results

2020 general election

2018 general election

2016 general election

2014 general election

2008 general election

2004 general election

References

External links

Rhode Island Democratic Party
{{Authority control Democratic Party (United States) by state Democratic Party