2012 United States Senate election in Rhode Island

2012 United States Senate election in Rhode Island

← 2006 November 6, 2012 2018 →
Turnout58.0% (voting eligible)[1]
 
Nominee Sheldon Whitehouse Barry Hinckley
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 271,034 146,222
Percentage 64.81% 34.97%

Whitehouse:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Hinckley:      50–60%

U.S. senator before election

Sheldon Whitehouse
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Sheldon Whitehouse
Democratic

The 2012 United States Senate election in Rhode Island was on November 6, 2012, alongside the presidential election, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections.

In the 2006 Senate election, former Attorney General of Rhode Island Sheldon Whitehouse defeated one-term Republican incumbent Lincoln Chafee. Chafee had been appointed to the Senate in 1999 when his father, the incumbent senator John Chafee died. He then won election to a first term in 2000. Whitehouse won 53.52% of the vote in 2006.

Incumbent Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse was reelected to a second term in a landslide by a 30-point margin of 65% - 35%. This election was the first time since 1970 that the election for Rhode Island's Class 1 Senate seat did not feature a member of the Chafee family.

  1. ^ Dr. Michael McDonald (February 9, 2013). "2012 General Election Turnout Rates". George Mason University. Archived from the original on April 24, 2013. Retrieved April 6, 2013.