1980Final results
1980 election for Rhode Island Governor
Governor · Rhode Island
J. Joseph Garrahy (D) won with 73.7% of the vote, defeating Vincent A. Cianci (R) by 47.4 points.
J. Joseph GarrahyDemocrat · winner
73.7%299,174
Vincent A. CianciRepublican
26.3%106,729
405,903 votes
Source: Algara, Carlos; Amlani, Sharif (Harvard Dataverse)Updated Oct 5, 2026, 12:23 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1980
Races before and after
Source: Algara, Carlos; Amlani, Sharif (Harvard Dataverse)Updated Oct 5, 2026, 12:23 AM ET