Gov. Dan McKee Faces Primary Threat from Corporate Liberal Helena Foulkes
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Governor Dan McKee, a career Democrat, is being challenged in the primary by Helena Foulkes, a former CVS Health executive with deep establishment ties. The race centers on the state’s failed infrastructure management and the growing influence of corporate elites and liberal insiders in Rhode Island politics.
Governor Dan McKee, 75, a longtime Democratic politician, is seeking re-election in Rhode Island’s Democratic primary on Sept. 9, but faces a strong challenge from 62-year-old Helena Foulkes, a former CVS Health executive and member of a well-connected liberal family. Foulkes has out-raised the incumbent and saturated the airwaves with ads, thanks to her deep pockets and support from the corporate elite. This contest comes as voters grow weary of the Democratic establishment’s mismanagement—most notably McKee’s disastrous handling of the Washington Bridge closure, which has dragged on past deadlines and wasted taxpayer money.
Foulkes claims that state government serves a 'powerful few,' but her own background as a corporate executive and scion of the Dodd political dynasty shows she is hardly an outsider. 'I think that what I’ve really learned in the last four years, in a deeper way, is how much people feel like state government just works with a powerful few,' she said, attempting to distance herself from the very establishment she represents.
The Washington Bridge, a crucial route for Rhode Islanders, was partially closed in 2023 after officials discovered a critical failure. McKee’s promise to complete repairs by 2028 and his excuses about similar projects in Maryland ring hollow for voters tired of Democrat-led incompetence and endless delays. Political scientist Adam Myers notes that infrastructure failures are often blamed on those in power, and in this case, it’s the Democrats who have let the public down.
McKee has rightly called out Foulkes for her corporate background, warning that she puts profits ahead of the public good. 'Who’s the option here? It’s a corporate person that the Democrats can’t stand,' he said, highlighting the hypocrisy of the left’s embrace of corporate insiders when convenient.
Foulkes, whose family includes liberal Connecticut senators Thomas and Chris Dodd, tries to defend her record by touting CVS’s reduction in opioid dispensing by 40% during her tenure, but this does little to address the broader failures of corporate and liberal leadership. She also warned that McKee’s attacks could alienate thousands of CVS employees, revealing the cozy relationship between big business and the Democratic Party. 'The 50 largest companies’ business leaders in this state wrote a letter to you, asking you to stop criticizing CVS,' she said during an August debate, showing where her true loyalties lie.
Both candidates have received endorsements from various labor groups, but the state Democratic Party and the AFL-CIO have withheld formal support, perhaps recognizing the lack of genuine leadership in either candidate. The winner of the primary is expected to be the favorite in the general election, but Rhode Islanders are left with a choice between two establishment liberals, neither of whom offers real change.