The 2016 United States presidential election in Rhode Island took place on November 8, 2016, as part of the 2016 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Rhode Island voters chose four electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote.
Prior to the election, Rhode Island was considered to be a state Clinton would win or a safe blue state. Rhode Island, like most of New England, is strongly Democratic. Its voters tend to be liberal on social issues, most of its population lives in urban cities, its voting age population skews younger, and the Democratic Party has been regarded as the state's dominant party since the 1930s.
Although Clinton easily won Rhode Island, her 15.5% margin was significantly weaker than Obama's 27% margin 4 years earlier. Trump notably became the first Republican nominee for president to win a county since Reagan won the state in 1984.
Four candidates appeared on the Democratic presidential primary ballot:
Three candidates appeared on the Republican presidential primary ballot:
Clinton won both congressional districts.
Donald Trump flipped several municipalities that had not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since the 1980s including Burrillville, Coventry, Exeter, Foster, Glocester, Hopkinton, Johnston, Lincoln, North Smithfield, Richmond, Smithfield, and West Warwick. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton was able to flip East Greenwich which voted for Mitt Romney in 2012. This was the worst Democratic performance in Burrillville since 1920 and the worst Democratic performance in Johnston since 1924.
As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the solitary election since 1984 where any county in Rhode Island voted Republican (Kent County narrowly voted for Trump), and the most recent election where Lincoln voted Republican.