Foulkes Ousts Rhode Island Gov. McKee in Primary Upset

Helena Foulkes defeated Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee, making him the first sitting governor in any US state to lose a party primary since 2018.

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. Per Newsweek, the Associated Press called the race shortly before 8:30 p.m. ET, with Foulkes taking 62.4 percent to McKee's 37.6 percent. It was a rematch of their close 2022 primary, which McKee narrowly won in a crowded field. In his concession speech, McKee promised a smooth transition, while Foulkes told supporters: 'You will have a governor for everyone.'

Incumbent governors almost never lose their party's nomination, which makes this result a genuine rarity. McKee is the first sitting governor of any state to lose a primary since Kansas Republican Jeff Colyer in 2018, and the first elected governor to be denied renomination since Hawaii Democrat Neil Abercrombie in 2014, according to Newsweek and the New York Post. Newsweek also notes McKee is the first sitting Rhode Island governor to lose a primary in more than 30 years, dating to Bruce Sundlun's 1994 defeat by Myrth York.

The defining issue was the Washington Bridge, which carries Interstate 195 over the Seekonk River between Providence and its eastern suburbs. Foulkes called the project, per the New York Post, 'a poster child for mismanagement,' while McKee argued the closure kept the public safe and pointed to federal funding he secured.

The polling foreshadowed the scale of the loss. The New York Post reports that a University of New Hampshire survey last month put McKee's approval at just 24 percent, among the lowest of any governor, and showed Foulkes with a massive 38-point lead in the primary race. McKee tried to frame Foulkes as an out-of-touch corporate executive, attacking her tenure at CVS amid its opioid litigation; she responded that CVS cut opioid dispensing by 40 percent while she led its pharmacy division, the Associated Press reports.

The defeat adds a prominent incumbent to a 2026 primary season in which challengers have repeatedly ousted established officeholders. The AP also notes a parallel shakeup the same night: Providence Mayor Brett Smiley lost his reelection bid to 27-year-old democratic socialist David Morales, endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ro Khanna. For Democrats, the Rhode Island result shows voter frustration with management records, not just ideology, can end gubernatorial careers, and it hands the party a fresh standard-bearer heading into the general election.

Foulkes advances to the November general election, where she will face the winner of a Republican primary that the Associated Press describes as separated by only a few hundred votes between Aaron Guckian, the party's 2022 lieutenant governor nominee, and retired business executive Elaine Pelino. The AP also reports independent candidates Ken Block, Jasjit 'Jay' Gotra and Christopher 'CD' Reynolds will be on the ballot, per the Rhode Island Current. Given her primary margin, Foulkes begins as a strong favorite in blue Rhode Island.