Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee lost his Democratic primary election to former CVS executive Helena Foulkes, according to NBC News projections on September 9, 2026. McKee, 75, faced voter dissatisfaction and a substantial spending disadvantage, becoming the first governor to lose a primary election this year and the first in eight years. Public polls leading up to Tuesday showed McKee trailing by double digits, while Foulkes, 62, outspent him on television ads by a 3-to-1 margin according to AdImpact. The race was a rematch of the 2022 primary, which Foulkes narrowly lost to McKee. McKee had originally assumed office in 2021 after then-Governor Gina Raimondo joined President Joe Biden’s Cabinet. A major factor in the campaign was McKee’s 2023 decision to abruptly close the Washington Bridge in Providence after engineers found critical structural issues. An Emerson College poll in August indicated that 63% of likely voters disapproved of his handling of the bridge, compared to just 18% who approved, and construction is projected to finish by 2028. Foulkes campaigned on improving the state’s economy, housing market, and infrastructure, while McKee defended his bridge closure as prioritizing safety over politics. The last sitting governor to lose a primary was Kansas Republican Jeff Colyer in 2018, and the last Democratic governor to do so was Hawaii’s Neil Abercrombie in 2014. Foulkes enters the general election as the heavy favorite in heavily Democratic Rhode Island, where a Republican governor has not been elected since 2010.
Source: nbcnews.com
