Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee loses Democratic primary to businesswoman Helena Foulkes
McKee fell after voters soured on his handling of the Washington Bridge, with 63% disapproving in an August Emerson College poll.
- NBC News projected on Thursday that former CVS executive Helena Foulkes defeated incumbent Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee in the Democratic primary, with public polling showing McKee trailing by double digits heading into Tuesday's vote.
- Voter dissatisfaction over the Washington Bridge closure in Providence served as a primary catalyst for the incumbent's defeat; an August Emerson College poll found 63% of likely voters disapproved of McKee's handling of the project.
- According to ad-tracking firm AdImpact, Foulkes outspent McKee by a 3-to-1 margin on the airwaves, while emphasizing in campaign ads that the state had "the worst roads and bridges."
- Supported by high-profile Democrats including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and relatives Thomas Dodd and Chris Dodd, Foulkes is now the heavy favorite in the general election for the blue state.
- McKee becomes the first governor to fall in a primary this year, joining a broader anti-incumbent wave that has seen 11 House members lose primaries in 2026, a rarity compared to the 2018 defeat of Kansas Republican Jeff Colyer.
104 Articles
104 Articles
Rhode Island Gov. McKee Loses Primary to Helena Foulkes
Rhode Island's sitting Democratic governor lost his own party's primary by a crushing margin, the first incumbent governor anywhere in the country to suffer that fate in eight years. Helena Foulkes, a former senior executive at CVS Health and onetime CEO of Hudson's Bay Company, defeated Gov. Dan McKee in Wednesday's Democratic gubernatorial primary, collecting […]
Democratic Establishment Bites the Dust in Another State
Incumbent Rhode Island governor Dan McKee loses to Helena Foulkes thanks to a bridge project gone wrong. Meanwhile, 27-year-old socialist David Morales will be the next mayor of Providence. It was a bad night for the Democratic Establishment.
Incumbent Democratic Governor Loses Primary by a Whopping 25 Points
Incumbent Democratic Gov. Daniel McKee of Rhode Island suffered a devastating loss in his primary race on Wednesday, losing by almost 25 points. As of Thursday morning, business executive Helena […]
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