2018 United States Senate election in Rhode Island

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.

2018 United States Senate election in Rhode Island

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Turnout	47.69%
Nominee Sheldon Whitehouse Robert Flanders Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 231,477 144,421 Percentage 61.44% 38.33%
County results Municipality results Congressional district results Precinct results 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

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

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%

Hypothetical polling

Results

Results by county:

  Whitehouse

•   70–80%
•   80–90%

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

Results by county:

  Flanders

•   80–90%

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%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Sheldon Whitehouse (D)	Robert Nardolillo (R)	Undecided
SocialSphere[21]	May 30 – June 4, 2018	501	–	53%	31%	16%

Hypothetical polling

with Robert Nardolillo

Results

United States Senate election in Rhode Island, 2018^[22]

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.^[23]

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