Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee has lost his Democratic primary to former CVS executive Helena Foulkes, NBC News projects, after facing a significant spending disadvantage and voter discontent with his tenure.
In an election season that has seen a wave of anti-incumbent energy, McKee, 75, becomes the first governor to fall in a primary this year — and the first in eight years.
Public polling had shown McKee, who was running for a full second term, trailing by double digits heading into Tuesday. And Foulkes, 62, outspent him on the airwaves by 3-to-1, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
The primary was a rematch of 2022, when Foulkes narrowly lost to McKee, who had replaced Gov. Gina Raimondo after she was selected for President Joe Biden’s Cabinet in 2021.
McKee’s 2023 decision to close the Washington Bridge, a commuter thoroughfare in Providence, hung over his campaign. The bridge closure came after state engineers discovered major structural problems that could have eventually caused it to collapse. Three years later, the bridge remains under construction.
An Emerson College poll in August found that 63% of likely Rhode Island voters disapproved of McKee’s handling of the Washington Bridge, with just 18% saying they approved.
In her campaign ads, Foulkes said the state had “the worst roads and bridges.” She also touted her plans to boost the state’s economy and housing market.
McKee has defended his decision to close the bridge, saying he prioritized safety over politics, and he has said construction will be completed by 2028.
The last time a sitting governor lost a primary was in 2018, when Kansas Republican Jeff Colyer was defeated by then-Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump. Hawaii’s Neil Abercrombie was the last Democratic governor to fall in a primary, losing by 35 points to David Ige, who was a state senator at the time, in 2014.
Eleven House members and two senators have lost primaries this year.
Given the heavy focus on local issues, the Rhode Island primary did not attract the level of national attention other Democratic contests around the country — which centered on fierce ideological and generational battles — have attracted this year.
Still, Foulkes does have connections to powerful Democrats. Thomas Dodd and Chris Dodd, her uncle and grandfather, were both U.S. senators from Connecticut. And former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who was a college roommate of Foulkes’ mother, campaigned for her.
Foulkes will be the heavy favorite in the general election in the blue state, which has not elected a Republican governor since 2010. Kamala Harris carried it by nearly 14 points in the 2024 presidential election.
