Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee loses Democratic primary to businesswoman Helena Foulkes

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee has lost his Democratic primary to former CVS executive Helena Foulkes, NBC News projects, after facing a significant spending disadvantage and voter discontent with his tenure.

In an election season that has seen a wave of anti-incumbent energy, McKee, 75, becomes the first governor to fall in a primary this year — and the first in eight years.

Public polling had shown McKee, who was running for a full second term, trailing by double digits heading into Tuesday. And Foulkes, 62, outspent him on the airwaves by a 3-to-1 margin, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

The primary was a rematch of 2022, when Foulkes narrowly lost to McKee, who had replaced then-Gov. Gina Raimaondo after she was selected for President Joe Biden’s Cabinet in 2021.

McKee’s 2023 decision to close the Washington Bridge, a commuter thoroughfare in Providence, hung over his campaign. The bridge closure came after state engineers discovered major structural problems that could have caused it to eventually collapse. Three years later, the bridge remains under construction.

An Emerson College poll from August found that 63% of likely Rhode Island voters disapproved of McKee’s handling of the Washington Bridge, with just 18%…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business