Helena Foulkes defeats Governor Dan McKee in Rhode Island primary
In the US state of Rhode Island, Helena Foulkes defeated incumbent Governor Dan McKee in the Democratic Party primary. As The Guardian reports, McKee became the first incumbent US governor in nearly a decade to lose an intra-party election.
Criticism over the bridge in Providence
Foulkes, who previously worked for a long time as an executive at the CVS pharmacy chain, criticized McKee's actions regarding repairs to the Washington Bridge in Providence during her campaign. It is one of the main east-west transportation arteries, used by approximately 100,000 vehicles every day.
McKee closed the bridge in December 2023 after inspectors found serious structural problems. In March 2024, officials concluded that the structure could not be repaired and needed to be rebuilt. Foulkes stated that, in her view, McKee had handled the repair work improperly, as it had dragged on longer than initially planned.
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Completion of work expected in 2028
Initially, state authorities expected to reopen the bridge to traffic this year, but the project's completion was postponed until November 2028. The current primary was a kind of repeat of the election four years ago: at that time, Foulkes finished a close second to McKee in a five-candidate race.
McKee became governor in 2021, when Gina Raimondo left the position to become US Secretary of Commerce in Joe Biden's administration. In 2022, McKee easily won the general election. Analysts assess Rhode Island's governorship as reliably Democratic, so Foulkes' primary victory gives her a significant advantage ahead of the general election in November.
