Rhode Island was the last of the 13 original colonies to ratify the Constitution, entering the Union in May 1790. The state has been reliably Democratic since 1928, only voting Republican four times – twice for Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956, for Nixon in 1972, and for Reagan in 1984, when he won every state except Minnesota. In 2016, Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump by about 15.5%. While the state was by no means competitive, this was the closest Democratic margin here since 1988.

The Ocean State has had four electoral votes since it first participated in 1792, except for the 1910s and 1920s when it had five. That makes it the 2nd most over-represented state in the electoral college, with one vote per 263,142 residents. The national average is more than double that, at 573,876. It also has the most electoral votes proportional to size - one for every 303 square miles. Population trends indicate the state could lose one of its electoral votes after the next presidential election. This would leave the state with a single congressional district for the first time ever, thus making it the 8th state with the minimum three electoral votes. There have been only two other instances (South Dakota and Vermont) of a state moving to a single district after previously having two or more.