Providence, RI is the capital of the smallest state in the U.S., Rhode Island. It is located in Providence County, which also makes it the most populous county in the state. While Rhode Island is a small state, its politics are vibrant and diverse. In Providence County, Democrats hold a strong majority of elected offices at both the state and local level. The Democratic Party controls both chambers of the Rhode Island General Assembly and every congressional seat in Rhode Island's delegation to Washington DC. Additionally, all members of political boards or commissions appointed by governors have historically been from the Democratic Party. At the local level, Democrats control most city council seats and county commission positions in Providence County as well. There are several political organizations in Providence that work on issues related to education, health care, environmental protection, transportation, and economic development. These organizations provide residents with resources to become informed about current events and engage in political dialogue with their elected officials.
The political climate in Providence County, RI is moderately liberal.
In Providence County, RI 60.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 37.6% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 1.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Providence county remained overwhelmingly Democratic, 60.5% to 37.6%.
Providence county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Providence County, RI is moderately liberal.
Providence-Warwick Metro Area is moderately liberal.
Rhode Island is moderately liberal.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index is based on recent voting in national elections, federal campaign contributions by local residents, and consumer personality profiles.
VoteWord™
Displaying 20 years of Presidential voting, visualized in one word.
Providence, Rhode Island: D D D D D D
How It Works:
Here at BestPlaces, we were looking at the voting patterns since the 2000 election and realized that we could express the results of each election as one letter. R if the Republican Party candidate won, D for the Democrat and I for the Independent. The six elections (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020) would be expressed as six-letter word (R R D R R).
Then we went a little further and added the dimension of magnitude. If the difference of victory was greater than 10 percent, the letter is upper case, and lower case if the difference was less than 10 percent. This allows us to see interesting voting patterns at just a glance.
Here's the VoteWord for Iowa d r d d r. In the last six elections the state has been closely contested, voting narrowly for the Republican Party candidate in 2016 and 2020 after voting for the Democratic Party in 2008 and 2012. Virginia (r r d d d D) has voted for the Democratic Party in the last three elections.
Individual Campaign Contributions in Providence County, RI
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 34,609 contributions totaling $6,652,648 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $192 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 3,080 contributions totaling $2,233,436 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $725 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)