Rhode Island U.S. Senate- Race of the Day

37 Days Until Election Day

Rhode Island U.S. Senate

Status: Democrat Incumbent

2024 Presidential Result: Blue State (East)

 

Outlook: Safe Democrat

 

As Election Day grows nearer, there are many Senate elections that are being highly analyzed as the races appear tight and the balance of power depends on the outcome. In terms of competitiveness, Rhode Island is not one of those races.

 

Democrat Jack Reed, who will turn 77 shortly after the election is currently the Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and hopes to once again become the Chairman. A West Point grad and Army veteran, Reed was first elected to office 42 years ago. He came to Congress after the 1990 election and six years later moved up to the Senate, in what is among the nation's more reliable blue states on the federal level. The Senator has never had anything even close to a real race and this year should be no exception. In a primary earlier this month, Reed took 77 percent against two opponents. Perhaps some Democrats thought he had been in office long enough and others likely thought that Reed, though fairly liberal across the board, was not combative enough against Republicans, or had been too willing to work in a bipartisan way during all his years on Capitol Hill. Connor Burbridge, an elderly care worker who came in second with 13 percent is just 30 years old, the same length of time Reed since Reed was first elected to the Senate.

 

Republicans did not have a contested primary, probably because nobody else really wanted to waste their time on making this race.  The nominee is Raymond McKay, who has a birthday just 11 years and one day apart from Reed. Also an Army veteran, he worked for a local government as an IT manager and has been involved as a conservative political activist. In 2024, McKay ran for the Senate, but lost a Republican primary by a 64-36 margin against a more establishment candidate. She went on to get 40 percent of the vote, but this cycle, against Reed, will likely yield a return of the low thirties at best for the Republican.

 

Senate races predicted thus far: 

14 D (7 Safe, 1 Likely, 4 Leans, 2 Tossup)

14 R (3 Safe, 4 Likely, 4 Leans, 3 Tossup)

 

Senate total predicted thus far:

48 D (34 holdover, 7 Safe, 1 Likely, 4 Leans, 2 Tossup) 

45 R (31 holdover, 3 Safe, 4 Likely, 4 Leans, 3 Tossup)