Rhode Island Elections Project aims to make elections more accessible to voters in the state

On paper, Rhode Island does not share many characteristics with the ruby-red states of the South. Yet when it comes to one important measure of electoral democracy, Rhode Island feels very similar: Too many elections offer voters little or no meaningful choice.

After the primary on Wednesday, Sept. 9, many Rhode Islanders will already know who their next state representative or senator will be, two months before the general election. In some districts, the decisive election will have been the primary. In others, there will have been no contest at all.

Competitive elections are not simply about whether Democrats or Republicans win. They give voters choices, force candidates to make their case to the public, and give elected officials a reason to remain responsive to their constituents. A healthy democracy should not routinely be decided at the filing deadline.

The numbers paint a striking picture. In 2024, more than half of the seats in the Rhode Island Senate were uncontested in the general election, as were nearly two-thirds of the seats in the House of Representatives. Of the 38 Senate seats up for election, only two were competitive using a margin of 10 percentage points or less as the threshold. Among the contested Senate races, the average margin was around 22 percentage points. The long-term trend is also concerning: The number of competitive races has been declining since 2016. In 2014, around 16% of House races were competitive by our measure, whereas by 2024, this figure had fallen to around 10%.

At the same time, elections have become increasingly expensive, while running an effective campaign has become more difficult. In the second quarter alone, more than half a million dollars was spent on Rhode Island House and Senate races, with almost $1.5 million dollars raised. Rhode Island is on track for its most expensive state election season yet, even though its legislative elections are less competitive than they were a decade ago. Despite these trends, many Rhode Islanders remain unaware of just how uncompetitive their elections now are.

One of the reasons we created the Rhode Island Elections Project was to address this problem. The project is independent and is designed to make Rhode Island’s elections easier for everyday voters to understand. 

This nonpartisan initiative brings together information on elections, candidates, voting, and elected officials in one place, with the goal of helping Rhode Islanders better understand the issues, make informed decisions, and participate in the electoral process. 

Rather than requiring voters to navigate multiple government websites, spreadsheets, and campaign finance filings, the project compiles election information and presents it visually. It is our mission to make the political landscape more visible and accessible. You can search for candidates, view their policy priorities and see who has endorsed them. Want to know how many times a lawmaker running for reelection has been absent while the General Assembly was in session? Want to see how many bills they introduced? The site gives you the answers. You can track legislators’ performance, explore their districts, and examine electoral competitiveness, turnout, and election results over time. 

We have also started to make Rhode Island’s notoriously difficult-to-navigate campaign finance information more accessible. Voters can see how much candidates have raised and spent, how much cash they have on hand, the composition of their funding and the types of Political Action Committees and interest groups contributing to campaigns. 

None of this tells voters whom they should support. That is deliberately not our role. The purpose is to give Rhode Islanders the information they need to make that decision themselves.