Democrat Helena Foulkes is the projected winner of the governor’s race in Rhode Island.
NBC called the race for Foulkes Tuesday evening. With 85.1 percent of the votes counted, Foulkes led her Republican challenger Aaron Guckian by 44.1 percent. Notably, independent candidate Kenneth Block also led the Republican candidate by 14.4 percent as of 9:15 p.m. Eastern.
“I have called Helena Foulkes to congratulate her and concede the race,” Guckian wrote on social media after the race call. “To every supporter, volunteer, donor, and voter — THANK YOU. I am forever grateful. It has been the honor of my life to campaign for the state I love. God Bless Rhode Island.”
Foulkes, a former senior executive at CVS, made headlines after successfully defeating the state’s Democrat incumbent Gov. Dan McKee in the primary, quashing his bid for a second term. As a result, he became the “first governor in any U.S. state to lose a party primary since 2018,” per the Associated Press (AP).
Her victory pairs with that of incumbent Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), who won his reelection bid against Republican Raymond McKay Tuesday night.
