Rhode Island Democrats will go to the polls Wednesday to cast ballots in a race that could see an incumbent governor lose renomination for the job in a primary for first time in the United States since 2018.
According to polling conducted of the race, Gov. Dan McKee is running tens of percentage points behind his leading opponent, Helena Foulkes, the niece of former U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd and a former CVS executive, in the state where the pharmacy chain is based.
In the most recent poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire, Foulkes led with 56 percent support to McKee’s 18 percent. No poll taken during the entire election cycle has shown more than 30 percent support for McKee.
McKee and Foulkes have faced off before.
McKee became governor of Rhode Island in March 2021 after his predecessor, then-Gov. Gina Raimondo, left the post in order to become the U.S. commerce secretary under President Joe Biden.
In 2022, McKee sought the nomination for a full term, emerging victorious from a five-way Democratic primary for the nomination only after a close fight with Foulkes.
In that race, McKee won 32.8 percent of the vote, placing him just ahead of Foulkes, who finished at 29.9 percent.
This year, a handful of key issues are driving the potentially trend-defying race.
One of these is McKee’s handling of the Washington Bridge, a critical piece of state infrastructure that connected 100,000 vehicles a day between Providence and East Providence.
Following the discovery of critical structural flaws, McKee ordered the bridge closed in December 2023.
Originally, state officials had predicted that the bridge would reopen this year. Now, that’s been pushed back more than two years, with officials now estimating that the new bridge won’t open to the public until November 2028.
Questions and criticisms have also been raised on the campaign trail in relation to a 2024 state investigation by Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha and the state police into potential bribery or campaign finance violations by McKee.
The investigation found that McKee “personally and directly intervened” in the awarding of a multimillion-dollar state contract, but that he did not violate the state’s bribery or campaign finance laws.
Neronha endorsed Foulkes in March.
During the campaign, McKee has shot back at Foulkes with long-standing allegations that CVS helped to fuel the opioid crisis.
In 2022, in the aftermath of the close primary, McKee ultimately won with 58 percent of the vote.
The Republican side—which faces an uphill climb in the deep blue state regardless of the Democratic nominee—features a contest between Aaron Guckian and Elaine Pelino for the nomination.
Guckian is a 2022 nominee for lieutenant governor who’s won the state party’s backing for the gubernatorial nomination.
Pelino, meanwhile, is a former actress and first-time candidate.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
We had a problem loading this article. Please enable javascript or use a different browser. If the issue persists, please visit our help center.