PROVIDENCE — Former CVS executive Helena Foulkes defeated Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee in Wednesday’s Democratic primary for governor, NBC News projected Sept. 9, 2026 — making McKee the first sitting governor to lose a primary this cycle and the first in eight years.

NBC reported McKee, 75, faced a significant spending disadvantage and voter discontent. Foulkes, 62, outspent him on the airwaves by a 3-to-1 margin, according to ad-tracking firm AdImpact, per NBC. Public polling had McKee trailing by double digits heading into the contest.

The race was a rematch of 2022, when Foulkes narrowly lost to McKee after he ascended when then-Gov. Gina Raimondo joined President Joe Biden’s Cabinet. This time, anti-incumbent energy landed.

Washington Bridge hangover

McKee’s 2023 decision to close Providence’s Washington Bridge after engineers found major structural problems hung over the campaign, NBC reported. Three years later the span is still under construction. An Emerson College poll in August found 63% of likely Rhode Island voters disapproved of McKee’s handling of the bridge, with just 18% approving, NBC said.

Foulkes ads hammered “the worst roads and bridges” and pitched economy and housing fixes. McKee defended closing the bridge as safety over politics and said construction should finish by 2028, per NBC.

NBC noted Foulkes’ Democratic lineage: uncle and grandfather Thomas and Chris Dodd served as U.S. senators from Connecticut, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — a college roommate of Foulkes’ mother — campaigned for her. Foulkes is the heavy favorite in deep-blue Rhode Island’s November general election; the state has not elected a Republican governor since 2010.

Primaries are where voters fire their own team. Bridge delays, spending gaps, and double-digit disapproval made that easy. Incumbency is not a birthright.

Sources