Rhode Island voters have long arrived late to the presidential nominating contest, and by the time they did, the outcome was almost always settled. Beginning in 2028, that changes.
Governor Daniel J. McKee signed legislation on June 18 moving the state's presidential preference primary from the fourth Tuesday in April to the first Tuesday in March, aligning Rhode Island with the cluster of states that vote on what is informally known as Super Tuesday. The companion measures — S2491, sponsored by Sen. Matthew LaMountain, a Warwick Democrat, and its House twin, HB 7090 — passed both chambers unanimously before reaching the governor's desk.
The law addresses a problem that grew undeniable in April 2024. By the time Rhode Island held its primary that year, President Joe Biden and Donald Trump had each already clinched the delegates needed to secure their nominations, and the Associated Press called the state's contest ten minutes after polls closed. Roughly 5% of registered voters cast ballots — a collapse from 25% in 2016 and 17.1% in 2020.
"The practice of Rhode Island holding its primary election so late in the cycle effectively diminishes Rhode Islanders' voices and, in some cases, wholly eliminates their ability to have a say in the party's presidential nominee," Hugh Moren, the election administrator for the city of Newport, wrote to lawmakers in a February 4 letter.
The timing itself is not new. Rhode Island held presidential primaries in early March from 1996 through 2008. Lawmakers pushed the date back to late April in 2011, reasoning that a later contest would let voters weigh in after the field had narrowed but before it was locked. The 2024 result exposed the flaw in that calculation: by late April, the field is not narrowing so much as gone.
Backing for the reversal cut across the usual lines. House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, a Warwick Democrat, co-sponsored the House version, and Rhode Island Democratic Party Chair Liz Beretta-Perik testified for it before a House committee on February 5, framing the shift as one that would "in effect, create a New England Primary," grouping Rhode Island with neighboring states that vote in early March. Republican Party Chair Allyn Meyers offered rare agreement. "For too long, Rhode Island's late primary has rendered us an afterthought in presidential politics," Meyers said.
The Rhode Island Board of Elections endorsed the change, as did Secretary of State Gregg Amore's office. Beyond the date, the law lowers the number of signatures required for delegate candidates to appear on the ballot from 150 to 50 and revises deadlines for delegate nomination papers.
Whether the move delivers the attention its advocates promise is another matter. Rhode Island sends 19 delegates to the national conventions — a modest figure beside Massachusetts or Connecticut, and one that campaigns weighing where to spend time may not find worth a detour. Michael Citarella, a civic engagement fellow at Brown University's Swearer Center for Public Service, called the measure "a positive step forward" while doubting it would meaningfully increase candidate visits to a small state with few delegates. The state's own history offers a caution: the March primaries of 1996 through 2008 produced no lasting surge in candidate attention.
Rhode Island's Department of State signaled it would need adjustments to the broader election calendar to absorb the change. "If the General Assembly passes the bill and it becomes law, our office is committed to implementing the changes effectively and providing robust voter and candidate education," Faith Chybowski, the department's director of communications, wrote before passage.
The first primary under the new date falls in March 2028.