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Polls close in Rhode Island as traffic drama threatens to end Dem governor's tenure - Fox News
Entertainment and Culture9/10/20261 min read
Democratic Gov. Dan McKee could become the first elected governor in 12 years to lose renomination as Rhode Island's primary centers on a bridge crisis.
✨ Key Highlights
- Polls closed Wednesday, September 9, 2026, in Rhode Island's Democratic primary, where Gov. Dan McKee is fighting to avoid becoming the first elected U.S. governor in a dozen years to lose renomination.
- McKee took office in March 2021 after Gina Raimondo left to become U.S. Commerce secretary, then won a full term four years ago in the solidly blue state.
- He faces a rematch with Helena Buonanno Foulkes, a former CVS executive and niece of ex-Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, whom McKee narrowly beat in the multi-candidate 2022 primary.
- Foulkes has outspent McKee by nearly two-to-one, according to state campaign finance records, adding pressure to the incumbent's bid.
- McKee's handling of the Washington Bridge reconstruction has become a central issue; the span connecting Providence to East Providence was shut in December 2023 over critical structural flaws after carrying about 100,000 vehicles daily.
- Originally slated to reopen this year, the bridge's completion date was pushed to November 2028, with McKee and Foulkes clashing over the bidding process and rebuilding pace, while McKee cast Foulkes as an out-of-touch executive trying to buy the election.
The polls have closed in Rhode Island as Democratic Gov. Dan McKee fights for his political life in the smallest U.S. state's primary elections on Wednesday.
McKee first assumed office in March 2021