Rhode Island Gov. McKee Loses Democratic Nomination to Helena Foulkes

Gov. Dan McKee will not return to Providence as Rhode Island’s executive next year after voters threw their support behind Helena Foulkes, a former CVS Health executive, in the Democratic Party primary.

The race—defined by voters’ frustration about the continuing closure of the Washington Bridge connecting the state’s capital to East Providence—was called quickly by The Associated Press after polls closed at 8 p.m. local time.

When the race was called at 8:23 p.m. ET, Foulkes led with 62.6 percent to McKee’s 37.4 percent, with 71 percent of the votes counted.

It marks the first time an incumbent governor has lost renomination for the job in a primary in the United States since 2018. But the result, while unusual, was little surprise to observers.

According to polling conducted for the race, McKee ran tens of percentage points behind Foulkes—the niece of former U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd and a former CVS executive, in the state where the pharmacy chain is based—across the election cycle, with McKee never leading in a single poll.

In the most recent poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire, Foulkes led with 56 percent support to McKee’s 18 percent. No poll taken during the entire election cycle has shown more than 30 percent support for McKee.

McKee and Foulkes have faced off before.

McKee became governor of Rhode Island in March 2021 after his predecessor, then-Gov. Gina Raimondo, left the post in order to become the U.S. commerce secretary under President Joe Biden.

In 2022, McKee sought the nomination for a full term, emerging victorious from a five-way Democratic primary for the nomination only after a close fight with Foulkes.

In that race, McKee won 32.8 percent of the vote, placing him just ahead of Foulkes, who finished at 29.9 percent.

It meant that Foulkes entered this year’s race—defined by an attitude of voter frustration with the administration’s management of critical state infrastructure projects—with the benefit of name recognition among voters who were already open to dropping McKee.

Driving the frustration is McKee’s handling of the Washington Bridge, which connected 100,000 vehicles a day between Providence and East Providence.

Following the discovery of critical structural flaws, McKee ordered the bridge closed in December 2023.

Originally, state officials had predicted that the bridge would reopen this year. Now, that’s been pushed back more than two years, with officials now estimating that the new bridge won’t open to the public until November 2028.

Questions and criticisms were also raised on the campaign trail in relation to a 2024 state investigation by Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha and the state police into potential bribery or campaign finance violations by McKee.

The investigation found that McKee “personally and directly intervened” in the awarding of a multimillion-dollar state contract, but that he did not violate the state’s bribery or campaign finance laws.

Neronha endorsed Foulkes in March.

During the campaign, McKee shot back at Foulkes with long-standing allegations that CVS helped to fuel the opioid crisis.

In 2022, in the aftermath of the close primary, McKee ultimately won with 58 percent of the vote.

The Republican side—which faces an uphill climb in the deep blue state regardless of the Democratic nominee—featured a contest between Aaron Guckian and Elaine Pelino for the nomination.

As of 8:45 p.m., the race was too close for The Associated Press to call. He led with 50.6 percent of the vote to Pelino’s 49.4 percent.

Guckian is a 2022 nominee for lieutenant governor who has now won the state party’s backing for the gubernatorial nomination.

Pelino is a former actress and first-time candidate.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.