2008Flipped from DemocraticFinal resultsIncumbent defeated
2008 election for Rhode Island Senate District 17
Rhode Island State Senate · Rhode Island
Edward J. Oneill (Ind) won with 53.1% of the vote, defeating Joseph A. Montalbano (D) by 6.2 points, a seat Democrats won last time.
Edward J. OneillIndependent · winner
53.1%6,773
Joseph A. MontalbanoDemocrat · incumbent
46.9%5,980
12,753 votes
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 2008
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET