The 2020 United States presidential election in Rhode Island was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Rhode Island voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate California Senator Kamala Harris. Rhode Island has four electoral votes in the Electoral College.

Prior to the election, Rhode Island was considered to be a state Biden would win or a safe blue state. Biden won the state by 20.8 percentage points, receiving 59.4% of the statewide vote to Trump's 38.6%. His margin of victory was an improvement from Hillary Clinton's 15.5-point victory in 2016, though still noticeably trailing Barack Obama's near 28-point margins in the state in 2008 and 2012. Rhode Island became one of three states where Biden won every county during the election, the other two being Massachusetts and Hawaii.

Rhode Island voted 16% more Democratic than the national average.

Primary elections The primary elections were originally scheduled for April 28, 2020. On March 23, they were moved to June 2 due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.

Republican primary Donald Trump won the Republican primary, and received all of the state's 19 delegates to the 2020 Republican National Convention.

Democratic primary

General election

Predictions SourceRankingAs ofThe Cook Political ReportSeptember 10, 2020Inside ElectionsSeptember 4, 2020Sabato's Crystal BallJuly 14, 2020PoliticoSeptember 8, 2020RCPAugust 3, 2020Niskanen2020 Bitecofer Model Electoral College Predictions , Niskanen Center, March 24, 2020, retrieved: April 19, 2020.July 26, 2020CNNAugust 3, 2020The EconomistSeptember 2, 2020CBS NewsAugust 16, 2020270towinAugust 2, 2020ABC NewsJuly 31, 2020NPRAugust 3, 2020NBC NewsAugust 6, 2020538September 9, 2020

Polling Graphical summary

Aggregate polls +Source of pollaggregationDates administeredDates updatedJoeBiden DonaldTrumpOther/UndecidedMarginFiveThirtyEightuntil November 2, 2020November 3, 202062.9%32.4%4.7%Biden +30.6

Polls Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin DonaldTrumpJoeBidenJoJorgensenOtherUndecidedSurveyMonkey/AxiosOct 20 – Nov 2, 2020566 (LV)± 5.5%36%62% - – –SurveyMonkey/AxiosOct 1–28, 2020910 (LV) –32%67% - – –SurveyMonkey/AxiosSep 1–30, 2020351 (LV) –37%62% - –0%SurveyMonkey/AxiosAug 1–31, 2020208 (LV) –41%57% - –3%SurveyMonkey/AxiosJul 1–31, 2020253 (LV) –39%60% - –1%SurveyMonkey/AxiosJun 8–30, 2020176 (LV) –40%60% - –1%

Results

By county County Joe BidenDemocratic Donald TrumpRepublican Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % Bristol 18,050 63.52% 9,745 34.30% 620 2.18% 8,305 29.22% 28,415 Kent 49,113 52.76% 42,001 45.12% 1,979 2.12% 7,112 7.64% 93,093 Newport 29,486 63.89% 15,722 34.07% 940 2.04% 13,764 29.82% 46,148 Providence 165,012 60.52% 102,551 37.61% 5,104 1.87% 62,461 22.91% 272,667 Washington 44,549 58.57% 29,818 39.20% 1,693 2.23% 14,731 19.37% 76,060Totals306,21059.30%199,83738.70%10,3362.00%106,37320.60%516,383

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Kent (largest municipality: Warwick)

By municipality MunicipalityJoe Biden DemocraticDonald Trump RepublicanJo Jorgensen LibertarianOtherMarginTotal votes cast#%#%#%#%#%Barrington7,71371.2%2,88926.7%1131.0%1171.0% 4,824 44.5%10,832Bristol6,81358.4%4,59539.4%1391.2%1100.9%2,21819.0%11,657Burrillville3,43440.2%4,90657.5%1261.5%720.9%-1,472-17.3%8,538Central Falls3,07371.9%1,11326.1%250.6%611.4%1,96045.8%4,272Charlestown2,90955.7%2,19842.1%641.2%491.0%71113.6%5,220Coventry9,12345.6%10,46152.3%2321.2%1880.9%-1,338-6.7%20,004Cranston23,03956.1%17,31342.2%3110.8%3901.0%5,72613.9%41,053Cumberland10,86955.2%8,41842.8%2061.0%1850.9%2,45112.4%19,678East Greenwich5,21860.3%3,22737.3%1041.2%981.1%1,99123.0%8,647East Providence14,73563.6%7,93034.3%2040.9%2841.3%6,80529.3%23,153Exeter1,97448.4%2,00949.2%551.3%441.1%-35-0.8%4,082Foster1,22442.7%1,58255.2%341.2%250.8%-358-12.5%2,865Glocester2,63843.2%3,35154.8%621.0%621.0%-713-11.6%6,113Hopkinton2,29847.4%2,42350.0%741.5%511.0%-125-2.6%4,846Jamestown2,79568.4%1,21229.7%441.1%330.8% 1,583 38.7%4,084Johnston6,83844.8%8,22253.9%880.6%1150.8%-1,384-9.1%15,263Lincoln6,63352.3%5,77945.6%1301.0%1291.0%8546.7%12,671Little Compton1,52460.1%95137.5%281.1%321.2%57322.6%2,535Middletown5,52964.2%2,88533.5%1151.3%790.9% 2,644 30.7%8,608Narragansett5,33359.1%3,55139.3%560.6%901.1%1,78219.8%9,030New Shoreham74878.3%19520.4%40.4%80.8%55357.9%955Newport7,86673.4%2,66224.9%850.8%990.9%5,20448.5%10,712North Kingstown10,53459.9%6,63337.7%2031.2%2071.2%3,90122.2%17,577North Providence9,43856.0%7,12942.3%1450.9%1390.8%2,30913.7%16,851North Smithfield3,50748.7%3,55049.3%851.2%640.9%-43-0.6%7,206Pawtucket18,05370.0%7,25728.1%1880.7%2901.2%10,79641.9%25,788Portsmouth6,64960.9%3,99536.6%1481.4%1251.1%2,65424.3%10,917Providence45,94180.4%10,18617.8%3460.6%6941.2% 35,755 62.6%57,167Richmond2,34648.8%2,34348.7%661.4%531.1%30.1%4,808Scituate2,73540.9%3,80657.0%691.0%731.1%-1,071-16.1%6,683Smithfield5,56648.3%5,74449.8%1181.0%1000.9%-178-1.5%11,528South Kingstown11,25467.4%5,00330.0%2121.3%2191.3%6,25137.4%16,688Tiverton5,12355.1%4,01743.2%840.9%680.7%1,10611.9%9,292Warren3,52459.5%2,26138.2%741.2%671.1%1,26321.3%5,926Warwick25,84555.7%19,57842.2%5451.2%4731.0%6,26713.5%46,441West Greenwich1,69342.3%2,24256.0%411.0%240.6%-549-13.7%4,000West Warwick7,23451.7%6,49346.4%1431.0%1310.9%7415.3%14,001Westerly7,15355.6%5,46342.5%1271.0%1110.8%1,69013.1%12,854Woonsocket7,28952.7%6,26545.3%1541.1%1300.9%1,0247.4%13,838Totals307,48659.4%199,92238.6%5,0531.0%5,2961.0%107,56420.8%517,757

By congressional district Biden won both congressional districts.

District Trump Biden Representative 34% 64%David Cicilline 42% 56%James Langevin

Analysis Biden flipped the reliably Democratic Kent County back into the Democratic column, after Trump narrowly flipped it in 2016. Of the fourteen towns that voted for Trump in 2016, Biden flipped back three: Lincoln, Richmond, and West Warwick. Overall, Biden won Rhode Island by 20.8 points, improving on Clinton's 15.5 point win. Rhode Island is the only state in which neither Biden nor Trump broke the all-time Democrat or all-time Republican record for most votes earned in a general election (Lyndon B. Johnson and Dwight D. Eisenhower).

Biden's best towns were Rhode Island's wealthiest (such as Barrington, Jamestown, and East Greenwich) and poorest (such as heavily Latino Central Falls). Trump performed best with middle-income voters. This strength allowed Trump to hold formerly Democratic towns like Johnston, which is largely Catholic and middle-class. According to a post-election voter survey conducted by the Associated Press, Trump carried Catholic voters, 51% to 49%.

Biden became the first Democrat since 1912 to win without the towns of Burrillville and North Smithfield, the first since 1916 to win without Johnston and Smithfield, and the first since 1936 to win without Coventry.

See also 2020 Rhode Island elections United States presidential elections in Rhode Island 2020 United States presidential election 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries 2020 Republican Party presidential primaries 2020 United States elections

Notes

References

External links

(state affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)