Wednesday night brought a win for Helena Foulkes, a former CVS executive, who defeated Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee in the Democratic primary, according to The Associated Press.
With roughly half of all votes counted at around 8:30 p.m. ET, Foulkes led McKee 62.3% to 37.7%. The projection makes McKee the first sitting governor anywhere in the country to lose a primary in eight years.
Foulkes has never served in public office. She ran for governor in 2022 but lost to McKee in the primary.
Since Rhode Island last picked a Republican for statewide office in 2006, the state has become a reliably Democratic stronghold, which makes Foulkes the favorite to win in November. Meanwhile, Aaron Guckian and Elaine Pelino are locked in a contest for the Republican nomination.
Foulkes led McKee 62.3% to 37.7%.
McKee’s Rise to Governor
McKee, previously the lieutenant governor, was elevated to the governor’s office after former Gov. Gina Raimondo became commerce secretary during the Biden administration. He was elected for a full term in 2022 and has served as governor for five years. Wednesday’s contest was the second time Foulkes and McKee had faced off; she lost to him in the 2022 primary.
The Washington Bridge, which connects the state capital of Providence with its eastern suburbs, closed in December 2023, and that shutdown has defined his first full term in office. Broken anchor rods were discovered, leading to the closure.
The bridge’s reconstruction is now put at a cost of $427 million, with completion set for November 2028. The initial estimate stood at $368 million, and the work was meant to wrap up back in August.
Foulkes’s Family Connections
Though she has never held public office, Foulkes enters the race with political family ties. Her uncle, Chris Dodd, and her grandfather, Thomas Dodd, both served as senators.
The mother’s college roommate, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, also gave her an endorsement.
The Healthcare Pitch
Affordable housing and the cost of living have been among the most resonant issues in the midterm elections, and Foulkes has made them central to her campaign. She has pointed to her 25-year career, which includes her work as a CVS executive, as proof that she can help make healthcare more accessible.
Among her healthcare proposals, she has pitched raising Medicaid reimbursement rates.
A Tax on Millionaires
Among his proposals, Foulkes has singled out a tax on millionaires as the centerpiece measure for meeting the state’s challenges.
An extra 3% tax on incomes above $1 million is proposed, with the proceeds set aside for construction of over 20,000 homes.
Foulkes has built her campaign around housing affordability, an issue that has come to define this election cycle. Her plan calls for funding the construction of more than 20,000 homes, which she offers as a direct response to the affordability concerns that have driven the contest.
The Bridge Project
Governor McKee’s time in office has been shaped by the Washington Bridge closure, which stood as a major issue throughout his tenure. The bridge was the road connection between Providence and the towns to its east, a vital link between the state capital and the communities beyond it.
When broken anchor rods were discovered in December 2023, the bridge was shut down. The cost of rebuilding has grown from the original estimate of $368 million to the current estimate of $427 million.
The project’s finish date has moved past its original mark, shifting from August of this year to November 2028.
Guckian and Pelino
On Wednesday night, Foulkes won the Democratic nomination, while Aaron Guckian and Elaine Pelino remain locked in a contest for the Republican nomination.
Rhode Island leans Democratic, which means the candidate who wins that race will be fighting an uphill battle in November. The state has not put a Republican into statewide office since 2006.
Foulkes is the clear favorite to become the next governor, and that judgment rests on his record.
Road to November
In November, Foulkes will take on the person who wins the Guckian-Pelino contest in the general election.
Should she win, she will assume office while the Washington Bridge work remains unfinished; the reconstruction is slated to run through 2028, with the final piece due in November of that same year. In either case, the contest takes place in a state that has not chosen a Republican candidate at the top of the ticket since 2006 — a region where McKee has emerged as the first serving governor in the nation to lose a primary in eight years.
Source: cbsnews.com
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