Helena Foulkes defeats incumbent Dan McKee in Rhode Island Democratic primary, September 9, 2026

Helena Foulkes, a former CVS executive, defeated incumbent Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee in the Democratic primary on September 9, 2026. According to NBC News, McKee is the first governor to fall in a primary in 2026 and the first sitting governor to lose a primary contest in eight years.

The race turned on voter anger over McKee's 2023 decision to close the Washington Bridge, a vital link carrying Interstate 195 across the Seekonk River between Providence and its eastern suburbs and the south coast of Massachusetts. State transportation officials had flagged a critical failure in an older part of the span. Three years after closure, according to PBS NewsHour, demolition and replacement work remains ongoing, with traffic squeezed into fewer lanes and commute times lengthened well beyond initial estimates.

According to an Emerson College poll cited in NBC News, 63% of likely Rhode Island voters disapproved of McKee's handling of the bridge closure, with just 18% saying they approved. In campaign ads, Foulkes called the state home to the worst roads and bridges. McKee, age 75 and running for a full second term, defended his decision in his own voice, saying he prioritized safety over politics and that construction will be completed by 2028. He pointed to Maryland's Francis Scott Key Bridge replacement as a slower project, saying Rhode Island would finish ahead of it after that span's 2024 collapse killed six construction workers.

Foulkes outspent McKee on the airwaves by 3-to-1, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact cited by NBC News. Public polling showed McKee trailing by double digits heading into the primary. This was a rematch of 2022, when Foulkes narrowly lost to McKee. McKee replaced Governor Gina Raimondo after she was selected for President Joe Biden's Cabinet in 2021.

Foulkes, age 62, worked at CVS for 25 years and became president of the company's pharmacy division between 2014 and 2018, per PBS NewsHour. She later became chief executive officer of Canadian retail giant Hudson's Bay before leaving in 2020. McKee attacked her record at CVS, attempting to characterize her as an out-of-touch elite who turned a blind eye to the opioid crisis during her tenure. When pressed on that criticism, Foulkes argued that CVS reduced its opioid dispensing by 40% when she was president of the pharmacy division, PBS NewsHour reported. She noted that in 2022, after she had left CVS, the company agreed to pay 5 billion dollars to settle opioid-related lawsuits nationwide without admitting wrongdoing.

In her victory speech in Providence, Foulkes told a large crowd: "Tonight, we may have won the Democratic primary for governor, but let me be clear about what happens next: You will have a governor for everyone. Because there is so much work that needs to be done, and we need to do this together," per PBS NewsHour. In his concession speech, McKee promised to work with Foulkes to ensure a smooth transition, saying "This is something that I think is difficult to deal with, but we just got to hold our heads high. I have my head very high because I know the work we've done together is really special." In 2022, per PBS NewsHour, McKee notably refused to take Foulkes' concession call.

Rhode Island has not elected a Republican governor since 2010. Kamala Harris carried the state by nearly 14 points in the 2024 presidential election, per NBC News, making the Democratic nominee the heavy favorite in the general election. Foulkes will face the winner of the Republican primary, where Aaron Guckian and Elaine Pelino were in a close contest separated by only a few hundred votes with most of the vote counted, according to PBS NewsHour. Guckian is a state trade association executive and was the nominee for lieutenant governor in 2022; Pelino is a former actor and first-time candidate. The state party has endorsed Guckian.