Myrth York

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee lost Wednesday's Democratic gubernatorial primary to former CVS and Hudson's Bay Company executive Helena Foulkes, who won decisively 62.4% to 37.6%, four years after narrowly beating her in a multi-candidate race. McKee, governor since 2021, had faced sustained criticism over his handling of the Washington Bridge closure, a critical Interstate 195 span shut down in 2023 over safety concerns whose replacement has run behind schedule; McKee said construction would finish by 2028, but Foulkes called the project "a poster child for mismanagement." Foulkes has focused her campaign on affordability, pledging to build 20,000 new homes, enact a tenant's bill of rights, and push for a gubernatorial line-item veto. McKee had attacked her record on opioids during her 25-year CVS career, but Foulkes maintained opioid dispersal fell 40% under her leadership. Foulkes is heavily favored in November's general election in the deeply blue state.

McKee is the first elected governor to lose a primary since Hawaii's Neil Abercrombie in 2014, and the first sitting governor overall not renominated since Kansas's Jeff Colyer in 2018. On the Republican side, party-backed Aaron Guckian held a narrow lead over Elaine Pelino, a Trump-aligned former actress, in a race too close to call. Sen. Jack Reed easily won his Democratic primary and will face Republican Raymond McKay in November.