There are 157 candidates running for the Rhode Island General Assembly in the primaries on Sept. 9. This is the fewest candidates since Ballotpedia began tracking this data in 2010. All 113 seats across both state legislative chambers are up for election this year.

Both major parties have the fewest candidates running since 2010. There are 129 Democrats running and 28 Republicans.

There are 104 incumbents running for re-election and nine open seats. Fourteen incumbents are contested, the second fewest since 2010. The year with the fewest contested incumbents was 2024, when there were 12. An average of about 11 seats were open in the years between 2010 and 2024.

There are 21 Democratic primaries and no Republican primaries. This is the second fewest Democratic primaries, after 2024 when there were 18. This year ties with 2024 for the fewest Republican primaries since 2010.

In a commentary piece that he wrote for the Rhode Island Current, Community College of Rhode Island professor Matt Ulricksen wrote, “Rhode Island isn’t experiencing a temporary lull in competition; it has among the least competitive state legislative elections in the country, year after year.”

Ulricksen cites several studies in his article and offers three possible reasons for the high number of uncontested state legislative races in Rhode Island. Those include:

• Lack of legislative professionalism and compensation: Ulricksen writes, “Rhode Island’s General Assembly sits near the bottom of the legislative professionalism scale. Lawmakers earn $20,922 a year for a demanding part-time job with minimal staff support. Anyone who wants to run for this job must first gather 50 to 100 signatures in about two weeks just to get on the ballot — never mind campaigning.”
• One-party dominance: Heading into the 2026 elections, Democrats have a 34-4 majority in the Rhode Island Senate and a 63-1–1 majority with one vacancy in the state House. Because Gov. Daniel McKee, who is currently running for re-election, is a Democrat, Rhode Island is one of 16 states with a Democratic trifecta.
• Redistricting: Rhode Island is one of 34 states in which the legislature plays the dominant role in state legislative redistricting. Ulricksen writes, “While dominant-party legislatures will gerrymander to preserve the dominant party’s electoral advantage, redistricting rules affirming jurisdictional boundaries can meaningfully mitigate that advantage.”

Click here to learn more about Rhode Island's 2026 state Senate elections and here to learn more about the state House elections