Nasty Rhode Island governor rematch raises accusations of opioid peddling, nepotism and who’s the real outsider

Four years ago, Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee was celebrating his narrow victory in the Democratic primary surrounded by supporters, when someone handed him phone — it was his opponent simply calling to concede.

“That’s not going to happen,” he said, waving the phone away. “Hang up on them.”

Now, the woman he dismissed, Helena Foulkes, is challenging him to a rematch. And McKee is desperate to avoid not only becoming the first U.S. governor to lose a primary since 2018 but also the first Rhode Island governor to lose a primary in more than 30 years.

Foulkes, a former executive at CVS Health, has outraised the incumbent and flooded the airwaves with campaign ads.

And unlike four years ago, Democratic voters this election year have increasingly shown a willingness to oust incumbents. McKee, 75, will also have to overcome simmering anger over a bridge repair project that has dragged on longer than expected.

“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,” Foulkes, 62, said in an interview. “They also hear the leader of the state saying ‘everything’s great’ and they’re saying, ‘I really worry about a good paying job.’”

The winner of the Sept. 9 primary in Democratic-leaning Rhode Island will be the heavy........

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