Rhode Island was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama with a 27.8% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. At the time, the last time a Republican had carried this state or any county in it was in 1984, when Ronald Reagan won with about 52% of the vote, largely due to the support of Reagan Democrats.
To date, this is the last time that the town of West Greenwich voted Democratic.
^This figure is calculated by dividing the total number of votes cast in 2008 (469,767) by an estimate of the number of registered voters in Rhode Island in 2008 (701,307).
For the estimated number of registered voters, see "Eligible Voter October 4, 2008"(PDF). Rhode Island Board of Elections. October 4, 2008. Archived from the original(PDF) on November 3, 2010. Retrieved February 6, 2018.