Topline Takeaways

• Democrats swept Rhode Island’s midterm elections, winning both House seats, the governorship and all other statewide elections.

• Rhode Island’s Republican US House candidates had a strong showing this cycle, bringing the party closer than ever to winning a RI House seat.

• The key to their strong showing was that these Republican candidates actually shared policy proposals and didn’t rely on conservative culture war issues that are unpopular in New England.

Even though Democrats swept all of the major races on the ballot, Rhode Island’s Republican candidates performed well in comparison to past years, especially in House races. Democratic Incumbent Rep. David Cicilline (RI-1) saw only 63% of his district’s voters support his re-election, the lowest percentage he’s received since the last Republican red wave year in 2014. Meanwhile, Rhode Island’s 2nd congressional district came dangerously close to flipping: Republican candidate Allen Fung lost by only 7,000 votes (a 4-point margin) to Rhode Island’s General Treasurer Seth Magaziner. This amounts to roughly a 13-point shift to the right as this district supported both Joe Biden and retiring Democratic incumbent Rep. Jim Langevin by double digit margins in 2020.

The key feature that allowed these Republican House candidates to post some of the party’s best margins in the state in the last decade was that they rejected the MAGA movement in favor of common-sense policy proposals. Allen Fung vocally supported green energy as a method of lowering energy prices while also calling for increased infrastructure investment. Allen Waters (GOP candidate for RI-1) came out in support of H.R. 2, a constitutional amendment put forth by Democrats that would undo the negative effects of the Citizens United ruling. Instead of just parroting whatever crazy stuff comes out of Donald Trump’s mouth, these candidates actually engaged with the issues their voters are facing.

Rhode Island voters regularly split their tickets amongst Democrats and moderate Republicans throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. The emergence of the ideologically extreme MAGA movement has jeopardized the party’s chances in the state, giving Democrats some of the widest majorities in the state legislature since the era of split-ticket voting. This year’s moderate Republican candidates charted a path forward for the party in a region where the MAGA movement has been forcefully rejected. The question is, will the national party embrace political diversity in their party or will they simply cast these rising stars aside as “RINOs”?

More From Battleground on Rhode Island

• Are you familiar with Rhode Island’s “Trump line”?

• Take a deeper dive to learn why RI-2 was at risk of flipping this cycle.