Helena Foulkes Unseats Gov. Dan McKee in Rhode Island Democratic Primary
McKee is the first sitting governor in eight years to lose a primary, after a race dominated by the delayed Washington Bridge repairs. Providence also ousted its mayor.
Helena Foulkes, a former CVS executive, defeated Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee in Wednesday's Democratic primary, ending his bid for a second full term and making him the first sitting governor in any state to lose a party primary since 2018.
The result was a rare rebuke of an incumbent in one of the most Democratic states in the country. No Rhode Island governor had been beaten in a primary in more than 30 years. The last governor anywhere to suffer that fate was Kansas Republican Jeff Colyer, who narrowly lost his party's nomination to Kris Kobach eight years ago.
For Foulkes, the win completes a comeback from 2022, when she fell just short of McKee in a crowded primary field. This time she turned the race into a verdict on whether state government was delivering for ordinary residents, and voters sided with her.
A bridge that became a campaign
No issue shaped the contest more than the Washington Bridge. The span carries Interstate 195 over the Seekonk River, linking Providence with its eastern suburbs and the south coast of Massachusetts. Part of it was shut in 2023 after a critical failure was found in an older section, squeezing traffic into fewer lanes and turning daily commutes into long waits.
Replacement work has run well past early estimates, with completion now targeted for 2028. Foulkes pointed to the delays and rising costs as proof that McKee's administration was not working for most Rhode Islanders. McKee defended his handling of the closure as a decision driven by public safety.
McKee, a former lieutenant governor and longtime mayor of Cumberland, became governor in 2021 when Gina Raimondo left to join President Joe Biden's Cabinet. He won a full term the following year.
A corporate résumé and a political family
Foulkes spent about 25 years at CVS, including four years as president of its pharmacy division, before serving as chief executive of the retailer Hudson's Bay until 2020. On the trail she highlighted that CVS cut opioid dispensing by 40% while she ran the pharmacy business. She is also the granddaughter of the late Sen. Thomas Dodd of Connecticut and the niece of former Sen. Chris Dodd.
In her victory speech, Foulkes promised Rhode Islanders "a governor for everyone." McKee conceded, pledged to work with her on a smooth transition and told supporters that the loss was difficult but "we just got to hold our heads high."
Upset in Providence, too
The anti-incumbent mood also reached City Hall. David Morales, a 27-year-old democratic socialist backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Rep. Ro Khanna of California and several labor unions, defeated Providence Mayor Brett Smiley, 47, who was elected in 2022.
On the Republican side of the governor's race, Aaron Guckian, a state trade association executive and the party's 2022 nominee for lieutenant governor, was locked in a tight contest with Elaine Pelino, a former actor making her first run for office. With most ballots counted, only a few hundred votes separated them. The state Republican Party had endorsed Guckian.
What it says about the midterms
The Rhode Island results add to a pattern of Democratic primary voters looking for new faces. In Providence, a candidate running to the left of the party establishment unseated a sitting mayor. Statewide, a challenger with a business background ousted a governor by focusing on competence rather than ideology, a reminder that local frustrations can outweigh party loyalty even in a safe blue state.
What happens next
Foulkes enters the Nov. 3 general election as a strong favorite. Rhode Island has not elected a Republican governor since 2006, and Democrats hold commanding majorities in the General Assembly. Her Republican opponent will be settled once the remaining votes in the close GOP primary are counted.
McKee remains in office until January, when the winner of November's race is sworn in. Whether a new administration can speed up the Washington Bridge project, the issue that brought down the incumbent, is likely to be the first test of Foulkes' promise to make state government work better.
Image: Farragutful via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
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