Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee is projected to lose to Helena Foulkes in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. CBS News' Fin Gómez explains what happened.
Page A4From§Eachthe breakfast edition — 10 September 2026
Rhode Island governor loses primary to CVS executive, after projections showed defeat
As it ran on the front
The polls called it, the party confirmed it, and Rhode Island’s incumbent governor Dan McKee loses the Democratic primary to former CVS executive Helena Foulkes. The prescription was filled before the votes were counted: projections showed the governor set to lose, and the exit polls delivered. The new face is familiar from the pharmacy aisle.
The line between public office and corporate leadership blurs: the governor’s record is measured against the executive’s resume. The campaign is a transaction, the outcome is a sale. The primary isn’t just a contest, it’s a transfer of stock. The state’s ask is change, the party’s answer is a CEO.…
…(cont) The outcome is written in the projections, read out in the results, and signed off by the party. The receipts are the votes, but the prescription is the polls. The primary delivers its own product; the state fills the script.
“It's not just the drugstore chains running the state, it's the state running the drugstore chains. The governor's out, the exec's in, and the prescription is written in the polls.”
“Democrats value fresh leadership, and a proven executive is exactly what Rhode Island needs. Did I say the polls predicted it? Well, that's called transparency, or maybe it's just good business.”
The receipts
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee is the first sitting governor nationwide to lose a primary in eight years.
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.