Democrat Helena Buonanno Foulkes scored an overwhelming victory Tuesday as Rhode Island’s next governor, completing a journey she began more than four years ago and giving her the top job as the state stares down numerous challenges.
“Tonight, Rhode Island didn’t just pick a governor,” Foulkes said during a victory celebration at the Graduate Hotel in downtown Providence. “You made a choice about what kind of state we want to be, and I am so honored and so humbled to have earned your trust. I feel a deep responsibility, and I am going to work every single day on your behalf.”
Unofficial results show Foulkes, 62, winning the race with 57% of the vote, followed by independent Ken Block with 28% and Republican Aaron Guckian with 13%.
Building on a primary win in which she clobbered Gov. Dan McKee by 24 points and won every community in the state, Foulkes vowed to deliver strong leadership, address affordability and housing crises, and stand up to the Trump administration in Washington.
Block gained support in the short general election phase since the primary. Foulkes’ campaign responded with ads resurfacing part of his long-ago criticism of the Affordable Care Act – remarks, Block said, that misrepresented his current stance in support of increasing access to healthcare.
Ultimately, though, Block couldn't surpass Foulkes in voter support.
Second time the charm
A newcomer to campaigning in 2022 who narrowly lost a primary challenge to McKee, Foulkes touted her business and organizational acumen as the former president of CVS Pharmacy, a division of CVS Health, where she oversaw an $80 billion business and more than 200,000 employees.
That same experience offered the main line of attack for Foulkes’ rivals during the primary and general election campaign: how CVS made large settlements in response to lawsuits over its distributions of opioids. Foulkes maintained that she took action and reduced the company’s involvement.
Throughout her campaign, Foulkes said she would bring a more muscular style to confronting Rhode Island’s top challenges – a message that resonated in the primary as McKee faced low approval ratings.
Block, making his third run for governor, argued he was the true outsider in the race and that Foulkes was a captive of special interests because groups such as the Laborers’ International Union supported her campaign.
Foulkes’ campaign spent more than $6 million, far more than other candidates, and it maintained a frequent presence through television commercials – far more so than Block. While generally ignoring Guckian, Foulkes’ campaign and its Democratic allies painted Block as a conservative campaigning as a moderate.
Block remains upbeat in defeat
In a concession speech at a country music bar in downtown Providence, Ken Block said Rhode Island can and should do more to limit money's influence in the state’s elections. The 61-year-old tech entrepreneur compared his own campaign spending — about $400,000, he said — to the millions the Foulkes campaign spent. Outside spending by political action committees also swung heavily in Foulkes's favor.
“But I ran the race I wanted to run,” Block said. “A race based on ideas and solutions without a party price tag.”
“Good ideas should get a fair hearing even when they don’t come with a multi-million dollar advertising budget" he said.
The atmosphere at Block’s election party remained celebratory, even as early results showed Block behind Foulkes by a wide margin.
Block’s campaign manager, Matthew Schwiech, attributed the mood to his candidate’s “perennial optimism.”
From the stage, Block encouraged a crowd of his former volunteers to stay engaged with local politics.
“Push our government to be better,” Block implored his supporters. “Change can be made without holding elected office. I’ve done it.”
He left the stage to chants of “Ken! Ken! Ken!”
“Someone get me a beer,” Block said with a smile, stepping into the crowd.
Challenges await a new governor
Campaigning against an incumbent governor in the primary, Foulkes herself has outlined many of the challenges the next governor will be forced to confront.
Polling shows many Rhode Islanders believe the state is headed in the wrong direction. The state faces a less-than-robust fiscal climate, healthcare challenges, a housing shortage, chronic problems in education and other issues.
Foulkes campaigned on a goal of creating 20,000 new housing units over two terms. The Washington Bridge crisis helped take down McKee; Foulkes plans to be the governor to cut the ribbon on a new bridge in 2028.
She focused her general election campaign on meeting voters and avoiding missteps that would boost her rivals.
Foulkes will be the second woman governor of Rhode Island, following Gina Raimondo's 2014 election.
Foulkes’ victory continues an uninterrupted string of wins by Democratic governors since Raimondo’s first victory for that office.
During a scrum with reporters after her victory, Foulkes said she would focus her first 100 days in office after being inaugurated in January on trying to make progress on housing, healthcare and other key issues.
While Foulkes has never previously held elective office, she is no stranger to politics. Her grandfather, Thomas J. Dodd, was a U.S. senator from Connecticut; her uncle, Christopher Dodd, was as well; and her late mother was a college roommate of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Foulkes and her husband William have four adult children. The couple owns homes in Providence and Narragansett.
This story was updated November 3 at 11:05 p.m.
