Rhode Island, Attorney General

Rhode Island held an election for attorney general on November 6, 2018. The candidate filing deadline was June 27, 2018.

SETTING THE STAGE
Heading into the 2018 election, the attorney general of Rhode Island was Peter Kilmartin (D), who was first elected in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014. Kilmartin was prevented by term limits from seeking a third term in 2018.
In 2018, Rhode Island was under a Democratic trifecta. It had held this status since 2013, when former Gov. Lincoln Chafee joined the Democratic Party. Rhode Island was also a Democratic triplex.
Rhode Island was won by the Democratic candidate in each of the presidential elections between 2000 and 2016. The widest margin of victory was Al Gore's 29 percent margin in 2000, while the narrowest was Hillary Clinton's 16 percent margin in 2016.

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Rhode Island from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the Rhode Island State Board of Elections.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Rhode Island every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), Rhode Island 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Hillary Clinton	54.4%	Donald Trump	38.9%	15.5%
2012	Barack Obama	62.7%	Mitt Romney	35.2%	27.5%
2008	Barack Obama	62.9%	John McCain	35.1%	27.8%
2004	John Kerry	59.4%	George W. Bush	38.7%	20.7%
2000	Al Gore	61.0%	George W. Bush	31.9%	29.1%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Rhode Island from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), Rhode Island 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	John Reed	70.6%	Mark Zaccaria	29.3%	41.3%
2012	Sheldon Whitehouse	64.8%	Barry Hinckley	35.0%	29.8%
2008	John Reed	73.1%	Bob Tingle	26.5%	46.6%
2006	Sheldon Whitehouse	53.4%	Lincoln Chafee	46.3%	7.1%
2002	John Reed	78.4%	Bob Tingle	21.6%	56.8%
2000	Lincoln Chafee	56.9%	Robert Weygand	41.2%	15.7%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Rhode Island.

Election results (Governor), Rhode Island 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	Gina Raimondo	40.7%	Allan Fung	36.2%	4.5%
2010	Lincoln Chafee	36.1%	John Robitaille	33.6%	2.5%
2006	Don Carcieri	51.0%	Charles Forgerty	48.9%	2.1%
2002	Don Carcieri	54.8%	Myrth York	45.2%	9.6%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Rhode Island in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, Rhode Island 2000-2016

Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	2	100.0%	0.0%	D+2
2014	2	100.0%	0.0%	D+2
2012	2	100.0%	0.0%	D+2
2010	2	100.0%	0.0%	D+2
2008	2	100.0%	0.0%	D+2
2006	2	100.0%	0.0%	D+2
2004	2	100.0%	0.0%	D+2
2002	2	100.0%	0.0%	D+2
2000	2	100.0%	0.0%	D+2

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Rhode Island Party Control: 1992-2019
10 years of Democratic trifectas • No Republican trifectas

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
Governor	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	I	I	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
House	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D

Demographics

Demographic data for Rhode Island

	Rhode Island	U.S.
Total population:	1,055,607	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	1,034	3,531,905
Gender
Female:	51.6%	50.8%
Race and ethnicity**
White:	81.1%	73.6%
Black/African American:	6.5%	12.6%
Asian:	3.2%	5.1%
Native American:	0.5%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.8%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	13.6%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	86.2%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	31.9%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$56,852	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	17.3%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Rhode Island.

As of July 2016, Rhode Island's three largest cities were Providence (pop. est. 180,000), Cranston (pop. est. 81,000), and Warwick (pop. est. 81,000).