page_title: History of Rhode Island
section_title: Since 1929
hierarchical_section_title: History of Rhode Island / Since 1929
caption_attribution_description: The source of this file is the United States Senate Historical Office. I got permission (to post this photo on Wikipedia) over the phone, in person, from Ms. Heather Moore, the United States Senate Photo Historian. Ms. Moore can be reached at 202-224-6900. The url contact page for Ms. Moore is http://bioguide.congress.gov/copyright.htm. Ms. Moore said that the photo is in the public domain, but that credit for the photo does need to be posted as "credited to the U.S. Senate Historical Office." The URL where this photo was retrieved from is: http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=G000418
context_page_description: The history of Rhode Island is an overview of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and the state of Rhode Island from pre-colonial times to the present.
context_section_description: In 1935, Governor Theodore Francis Green and Democratic majorities in the state House and Senate replaced a Republican dominance that had existed since the middle of the 19th century in what is termed the "Bloodless Revolution." The Rhode Island Democratic Party has dominated state politics ever since. Since then, the Speaker of the House has always been a Democrat and one of the most powerful figures in government.
  The Democratic Party presents itself as a coalition of labor unions, working class immigrants, intellectuals, college students, and the rising ethnic middle class. The Republican Party has been dominant in rural and suburban parts of the state, and has nominated occasional reform candidates who criticize the state's high taxes and excesses of Democratic domination. Cranston Mayors Edward D. DiPrete and Stephen Laffey, Governor Donald Carcieri of East Greenwich, and former Mayor Vincent A. "Buddy" Cianci of Providence ran as Republican reform candidates.
  The state income tax was first enacted in 1971 as a temporary measure. Prior to 1971, there was no income tax in the state, but the temporary income tax soon became permanent. The tax burden in Rhode Island remains among the five highest in the United States, including sales, gasoline, property, cigarette, corporate, and capital gains taxes.
  A new Constitution of Rhode Island was ratified in 1986 and came into effect on 20 January 1987.
  Rhode Islanders have overwhelmingly supported and re-elected Democrats to positions of authority. As of 2020, Rhode Island has heavily Democratic legislatures; both U.S. Senators and Congressmen, and all statewide offices are held by Democrats. The state has been carried by Democratic presidential candidates in every election since 1988.
caption: U.S. Senator and Governor, T.F. Green
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