The 2016 United States presidential election in Rhode Island took place on November 8, 2016, as part of the 2016 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Rhode Island voters chose four electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote.
Although a "safe blue state", Trump improved on Romney's performance; Romney lost the state by 27 points, whereas Trump lost by less than 16 points. In 2012, Mitt Romney won only three towns in Rhode Island.[2] Donald Trump won 14 towns and even narrowly flipped Kent County, making this the first time a Republican has won a county in the state since Ronald Reagan in 1984.
As of 2020, this was the last election in which the towns of Lincoln, Richmond, and West Warwick backed the Republican candidate for president. All three towns had a long history of voting for Democrats before Trump won them in 2016, but in 2020 they were won by Joe Biden. The other nine towns that Trump flipped in 2016 remained Republican in 2020, a sign that Republican gains in Rhode Island in 2016 marked the beginning of a small realignment in state politics, especially among white working class voters.
The pink municipalities voted for Barack Obama in 2012 and flipped to Donald Trump in 2016. Only East Greenwich voted for Mitt Romney in 2012 but flipped to Hillary Clinton in 2016. Dark blue and dark red municipalities did not flip from 2012 to 2016.
Results by county[]
County
Clinton%
Clinton#
Trump%
Trump#
Others%
Others#
Total
Bristol
57.35%
14,609
35.19%
8,965
7.46%
1901
25,475
Kent
46.05%
37,788
46.72%
38,336
7.23%
5929
82,053
Newport
55.67%
22,851
36.73%
15,077
7.59%
3117
41,045
Providence
57.78%
143,571
36.31%
90,210
5.91%
14693
248,474
Washington
50.84%
33,741
41.03%
27,230
8.13%
5398
66,369
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican[]
Municipalities that flipped from Democratic to Republican[]
Burrillville (Providence County)
Coventry (Kent County)
Exeter (Washington County)
Foster (Providence County)
Glocester (Providence County)
Hopkinton (Washington County)
Johnston (Providence County)
Lincoln (Providence County)
North Smithfield (Providence County)
Richmond (Washington County)
Smithfield (Providence County)
West Warwick (Kent County)
Municipalities that flipped from Republican to Democratic[]
East Greenwich (Kent County)
See also[]
United States presidential elections in Rhode Island
2016 Democratic Party presidential debates and forums
2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries
2016 Republican Party presidential debates and forums
2016 Republican Party presidential primaries
References[]
^This figure is calculated by dividing the total number of votes cast in 2016 (464,144) by an estimate of the number of registered voters in Rhode Island in 2016 (770,875).
For the estimated number of registered voters, see "STATEWIDE - VOTER REGISTRATION SUMMARY"(PDF). Rhode Island Board of Elections. October 9, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2018.