For nearly five decades, Rhode Island has been one of the United States' most solidly Democratic states. Since 1928, it has voted for the
Republican presidential candidate only four times (
Dwight Eisenhower in
1952 and
1956,
Richard Nixon in
1972 and
Ronald Reagan in
1984) and has elected only two Republicans (former
Governor John H. Chafee and his son,
Lincoln Chafee, though the younger Chafee became a Democrat during his later governorship) to the
U.S. Senate since 1934. Rhode Island sent no Republicans to the
U.S. House of Representatives from 1940 until 1980, when one Republican and one Democrat were elected. In 1980, Rhode Island was one of only six states to be won by incumbent president
Jimmy Carter. However, Republican
Edward DiPrete was elected governor in 1984 and
Ronald Reagan narrowly carried the state in the
1984 presidential election. In the
2000 presidential election, Democrat
Al Gore won 61% of the popular vote in the state. An analysis of
Gallup polling data shows the Democratic advantage over the Republican Party in Rhode Island voters plunged between 2008 and 2011. The Democratic advantage over the Republican Party in Rhode Island slid from 37 percentage points in 2008 to 16, according to Gallup. Rhode Island went from the most Democratic state in the country in 2008 to the 7th most Democratic in 2011. ==Elected officials==