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2018 United States Senate election in Rhode Island
Turnout	47.69%
	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

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

Sheldon Whitehouse, incumbent senator^[1]

Eliminated in primary

Patty Joy Fontes, progressive activist

Declined

Lincoln Chafee, former governor of Rhode Island and former U.S. Senator^[2]^[3]

Polling

Hypothetical polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Sheldon Whitehouse	Lincoln Chafee	Undecided
ALG Research (D-Whitehouse)^[4]	May 7–14, 2018	329	± 5.5%	72%	14%	14%

Results

Democratic primary results^[5]
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

Robert Flanders, former Associate Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court^[6]

Eliminated in primary

Rocky De La Fuente, businessman and perennial candidate^[7]

Withdrew

Robert Nardolillo, state representative^[8]^[9]

Endorsements

Robert Flanders

Organizations

Rhode Island Coalition for Israel^[10]

Results

Republican primary results^[5]
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

Complete video of debate, October 9, 2018

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[11]	Safe D	October 26, 2018
Inside Elections^[12]	Safe D	November 1, 2018
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[13]	Safe D	November 5, 2018
Fox News^[14]	Likely D	July 9, 2018
CNN^[15]	Safe D	July 12, 2018
RealClearPolitics^[16]	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^[17]	October 20–24, 2018	416	± 4.8%	55%	36%	–	7%
SocialSphere^[18]	October 5–9, 2018	502	–	56%	32%	–	12%
University of New Hampshire^[19]	September 27 – October 6, 2018	503	± 4.4%	57%	33%	3%	6%
Fleming & Associates^[20]	September 14–17, 2018	420	± 4.8%	54%	35%	–	10%
SocialSphere^[21]	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^[22]	May 30 – June 4, 2018	501	–	53%	31%	16%

Results

United States Senate election in Rhode Island, 2018^[23]
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

By congressional district

Whitehouse won both congressional districts.^[24]

District	Whitehouse	Flanders	Representative
1st	66%	34%	David Cicilline
2nd	57%	42%	James Langevin

References

^ 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.
^ Kalunian, Kim; Towne, Shaun; Nesi, Ted (April 25, 2018). "Chafee will 'very likely' challenge Whitehouse for US Senate". WPRI-TV. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
^ Donnis, Ian (May 29, 2018). "Chafee Decides Against U.S. Senate Run In 2018". Rhode Island Public Radio. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
^ ALG Research (D-Whitehouse)
^ ^a ^b "United States Senate primary election in Rhode Island, 2018".
^ Gregg, Katherine (November 16, 2017). "Former Supreme Court Justice Flanders announces run for U.S. Senate". The Providence Journal.
^ "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.
^ Gregg, Katherine (May 15, 2017). "GOP's Nardolillo declares for U.S. Senate". The Providence Journal. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
^ Amaral, Brian (June 28, 2018). "R.I. Rep. Nardolillo drops out of U.S. Senate race". The Providence Journal. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
^ "RI Coalition for Israel Endorses Flanders for Senate". GoLocalProv. September 10, 2018.
^ "2018 Senate Race Ratings for October 26, 2018". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
^ "2018 Senate Ratings". The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
^ "2018 Crystal Ball Senate race ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
^ "2018 Senate Power Rankings". Fox News. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
^ "Key Races: Senate". Retrieved July 15, 2018.
^ "Battle for the Senate 2018". Retrieved July 15, 2018.
^ Fleming & Associates
^ SocialSphere
^ University of New Hampshire
^ Fleming & Associates Archived 2018-09-21 at the Wayback Machine
^ SocialSphere
^ SocialSphere
^ "United States Senate general election in Rhode Island, 2018".
^ "DRA 2020". Daves Redistricting. Retrieved August 19, 2024.

External links

Official campaign websites

[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] ALG Research (D-Whitehouse)

[United_States_Senate_primary_election_in_Rhode_Island,_2018-5] "United States Senate primary election in Rhode Island, 2018".

[6] Gregg, Katherine (November 16, 2017). "Former Supreme Court Justice Flanders announces run for U.S. Senate". The Providence Journal.

[7] "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.

[8] Gregg, Katherine (May 15, 2017). "GOP's Nardolillo declares for U.S. Senate". The Providence Journal. Retrieved May 15, 2017.

[9] Amaral, Brian (June 28, 2018). "R.I. Rep. Nardolillo drops out of U.S. Senate race". The Providence Journal. Retrieved June 29, 2018.

[10] "RI Coalition for Israel Endorses Flanders for Senate". GoLocalProv. September 10, 2018.

[11] "2018 Senate Race Ratings for October 26, 2018". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved March 13, 2021.

[12] "2018 Senate Ratings". The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved March 13, 2021.

[13] "2018 Crystal Ball Senate race ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved October 11, 2017.

[14] "2018 Senate Power Rankings". Fox News. Retrieved July 10, 2018.

[15] "Key Races: Senate". Retrieved July 15, 2018.

[16] "Battle for the Senate 2018". Retrieved July 15, 2018.

[17] Fleming & Associates

[18] SocialSphere

[19] University of New Hampshire

[20] Fleming & Associates Archived 2018-09-21 at the Wayback Machine

[21] SocialSphere

[22] SocialSphere

[United_States_Senate_general_election_in_Rhode_Island,_2018-23] "United States Senate general election in Rhode Island, 2018".

[24] "DRA 2020". Daves Redistricting. Retrieved August 19, 2024.

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