1928 United States presidential election in Rhode Island

The 1928 United States presidential election in Rhode Island took place on November 6, 1928, as part of the 1928 United States presidential election which was held throughout all contemporary 48 states. Voters chose five representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

1928 United States presidential election in Rhode Island

November 6, 1928

Nominee Al Smith Herbert Hoover Party Democratic Republican Home state New York California Running mate Joseph Taylor Robinson Charles Curtis Electoral vote 5 0 Popular vote 118,973 117,522 Percentage 50.16% 49.55%

County Results Smith   50-60% Hoover   50-60%   60-70%

President before election Calvin Coolidge Republican Elected President Herbert Hoover Republican

Elections in Rhode Island
Federal government U.S. President 1792 1796 1800 1804 1808 1812 1816 1820 1824 1828 1832 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 Dem 2008 Dem GOP 2012 2016 Dem 2020 Dem GOP U.S. Senate 1790 1791 1792 1793 1796 1796 (sp) 1797 1797 (sp) 1798 1801 (sp) 1802 1804 1804 (sp) 1807 (sp) 1808 1809 (sp) 1810 1811 (sp) 1814 1821 (sp) 1823 1823 (sp) 1825 (sp) 1827 1829 1829 (sp) 1833 1835 1841 1842 (sp) 1844 (sp) 1853 1856 1858 1862 1862 (sp) 1864 1868 1870 1874 1875 1876 1880 1881 (sp) 1882 1885 (sp) 1886 1888 1889 (sp) 1892 1894 1898 1900 1905 1908 (sp) 1910 1911 1913 1916 1918 1922 1924 1924 (sp) 1928 1930 1934 1936 1940 1942 1946 1948 1950 (sp) 1952 1954 1958 1960 1964 1966 1970 1972 1976 1978 1982 1984 1988 1990 1994 1996 2000 2002 2006 2008 2012 2014 2018 2020 U.S. House Aug 1790 Oct 1790 1792 1794 1796 (sp) 1796 1797 (sp) 1798 1800/01 1802 1804 1806 1808 (sp) 1808 1810 1812 1814 1816 1818 1833 1835 1837 1839 1841 1843 1845 1847 1849 1851 1853 1855 1857 1859 1861 1863 1865 1867 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1920 1928 1935 (sp) 1940 1956 1960 1968 1972 1980 1994 1998 2000 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
State government General elections 2014 2018 2020 Gubernatorial elections 1776 1787 1789 1801 1802 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 State Senate elections 2020 State House of Representatives elections 2020
Providence Mayoral elections 2010 2014 2018 2022

Rhode Island voted for the Democratic nominee, Governor Alfred E. Smith of New York, over the Republican nominee, Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover of California. Smith's running mate was Senator Joseph Taylor Robinson of Arkansas, while Hoover's running mate was Senate Majority Leader Charles Curtis of Kansas.

Smith won Rhode Island by a very narrow margin of 0.61%, making him the first Democratic presidential candidate since Woodrow Wilson in 1912 to carry the state, as well as the first to win an absolute majority of the vote since Franklin Pierce in 1852 (Wilson won the state in 1912, but only with a 39.04% plurality due to Republican vote splitting between President William Howard Taft and his immediate predecessor, Theodore Roosevelt, who challenged him with a third party). Although Hoover won more counties than Smith, key to Smith's victory were his appeal to "ethnic white" Roman Catholic voters in Providence County and Bristol County. Rhode Island was the only state save adjacent Massachusetts (another state with a large Catholic population) outside the Democratic "Solid South" that voted for Smith in 1928.

As Hoover became president in a nationwide electoral landslide, he became the first Republican elected president who did not carry Rhode Island. Given the scale of Hoover's win, Rhode Island was 18 percentage points more Democratic than the United States at large.

Beginning in 1928, Rhode Island would transition from a strongly Yankee Republican state into a Democratic-leaning state. Since then, Republicans have only carried the state four times.

Rhode Island would not vote for another Republican presidential candidate until Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952.