2018 United States Senate election in Rhode Island
← 2012 November 6, 2018 2024 →
Turnout47.69%
 
Nominee Sheldon Whitehouse Robert Flanders
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 231,477 144,421
Percentage 61.44% 38.33%
Whitehouse:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Flanders:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Tie:      40–50%
     No votes
U.S. senator before election

Sheldon Whitehouse
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Sheldon Whitehouse
Democratic

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The 2018 United States Senate election in Rhode Island took place on November 6, 2018, in order to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Rhode Island. Incumbent Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse was reelected to a third term, defeating Republican Robert Flanders by a margin of twenty-three percent.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominated

Eliminated in primary

Declined

Polling

Hypothetical polling
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size 		Margin
of error 		Sheldon
Whitehouse 		Lincoln
Chafee 		Undecided
ALG Research (D-Whitehouse) May 7–14, 2018 329 ± 5.5% 72% 14% 14%

Results

Results by county:
  Whitehouse
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
Democratic primary results[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sheldon Whitehouse (incumbent) 89,140 76.79%
Democratic Patricia J. Fontes 26,947 23.21%
Total votes 116,087 100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominated

Eliminated in primary

Withdrew

Endorsements

Robert Flanders
Organizations
  • Rhode Island Coalition for Israel[9]

Results

Results by county:
  Flanders
  •   80–90%
Republican primary results[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Robert G. Flanders Jr. 26,543 87.70%
Republican Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente 3,722 12.30%
Total votes 30,265 100.00%

General election

Debates

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[10] Safe D October 26, 2018
Inside Elections[11] Safe D November 1, 2018
Sabato's Crystal Ball[12] Safe D November 5, 2018
Fox News[13] Likely D July 9, 2018
CNN[14] Safe D July 12, 2018
RealClearPolitics[15] Safe D June 2018

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size 		Margin
of error 		Sheldon
Whitehouse (D) 		Robert
Flanders (R) 		Other Undecided
Fleming & Associates October 20–24, 2018 416 ± 4.8% 55% 36% – 7%
SocialSphere October 5–9, 2018 502 – 56% 32% – 12%
University of New Hampshire September 27 – October 6, 2018 503 ± 4.4% 57% 33% 3% 6%
Fleming & Associates Archived 2018-09-21 at the Wayback Machine September 14–17, 2018 420 ± 4.8% 54% 35% – 10%
SocialSphere May 30 – June 4, 2018 501 – 54% 32% – 14%
Hypothetical polling
with Robert Nardolillo
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size 		Margin
of error 		Sheldon
Whitehouse (D) 		Robert
Nardolillo (R) 		Undecided
SocialSphere May 30 – June 4, 2018 501 – 53% 31% 16%

Results

United States Senate election in Rhode Island, 2018[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Sheldon Whitehouse (incumbent) 231,477 61.44% -3.37%
Republican Robert Flanders 144,421 38.33% +3.36%
Write-in 840 0.22% N/A
Total votes 376,738 100.00% N/A
Democratic hold

References

  1. ^ Gregg, Katherine (December 22, 2016). "Sen. Whitehouse: 'Plenty of opportunity for us to have fights with the president'". The Providence Journal. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  2. ^ Kalunian, Kim; Towne, Shaun; Nesi, Ted (April 25, 2018). "Chafee will 'very likely' challenge Whitehouse for US Senate". WPRI-TV. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  3. ^ Donnis, Ian (May 29, 2018). "Chafee Decides Against U.S. Senate Run In 2018". Rhode Island Public Radio. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  4. ^ a b "United States Senate primary election in Rhode Island, 2018".
  5. ^ Gregg, Katherine (November 16, 2017). "Former Supreme Court Justice Flanders announces run for U.S. Senate". The Providence Journal.
  6. ^ "Winners and losers as RI Board of Elections decides on nomination paper objections – Uprise RI". Archived from the original on July 27, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  7. ^ Gregg, Katherine (May 15, 2017). "GOP's Nardolillo declares for U.S. Senate". The Providence Journal. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
  8. ^ Amaral, Brian (June 28, 2018). "R.I. Rep. Nardolillo drops out of U.S. Senate race". The Providence Journal. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  9. ^ "RI Coalition for Israel Endorses Flanders for Senate". GoLocalProv. September 10, 2018.
  10. ^ "2018 Senate Race Ratings for October 26, 2018". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  11. ^ "2018 Senate Ratings". The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  12. ^ "2018 Crystal Ball Senate race ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  13. ^ "2018 Senate Power Rankings". Fox News. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  14. ^ "Key Races: Senate". Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  15. ^ "Battle for the Senate 2018". Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  16. ^ "United States Senate general election in Rhode Island, 2018".

External links

Official campaign websites
(2017 ←)   2018 United States elections   (→ 2019)
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