Gov. McKee and his main rival Foulkes officially declare their candidacy for September primary

With 79 days to go until Rhode Island’s Democratic primary, the two Democratic frontrunners for governor officially filed their declaration of candidacy paperwork less than three hours apart Tuesday afternoon. But only one took questions from reporters.

Gov. Dan McKee spared the fanfare as he officially filed his paperwork for reelection at 12:45 p.m. at the Rhode Island Department of State on West River Street in Providence. He arrived at the office with his Rhode Island State Police escort and uttered little more than pleasantries to staff behind the counter. He asked a brief question about the deadline to provide the 1,000 signatures required to get his name on the ballot.

McKee was 45 minutes behind his original schedule after attending a ribbon cutting for a new union facility in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. He did not take any questions from reporters from three news outlets waiting for him and was onsite for less than 10 minutes.

At around 3:30 p.m., about 15 supporters of McKee’s Democratic rival, Helena Buonanno Foulkes, greeted her arrival with cheers.

“This is so fun!” Foulkes said at the counter where she filled out her form.

Foulkes spent about 25 minutes at the Department of State office, most of the visit mingling and posing for photos. She took about five minutes to answer reporters’ questions and highlighted her plan calling for construction of 20,000 new homes and apartments, paid for with a new phased-millionaires tax starting with the fiscal 2027 budget. 

“Talk about housing, for example, that matters to union members as much as it matters to non-union households,” Foulkes said. “That’s a unifying idea.”

Asked about her efforts to secure the support of unions in the state, Foulkes replied, “The conversations are all going really well.” 

“I’ve had great conversations with the teachers because I think there’s so much that we have in common,” she continued. “I’m excited to make sure that I’m getting the vote of every teacher and also the support of all the students and children who can vote, too.”

A coveted endorsement in the governor’s primary race from the Rhode Island AFL-CIO could happen as early as mid-July. The state federation of labor unions representing more than 80,000 members is scheduled to meet July 15, according to an email from the union’s president, Patrick Crowley.

McKee last week signed into law teachers union-backed bills that impose a three-year moratorium on charter schools and that require legislative approval for the state to participate in the Trump administration’s Education Freedom Tax Credit. The federal tax credit statute had provided that the governor can make the election to opt-in on behalf of the state.

Before filing his declaration of candidacy form, McKee attended the dedication and ribbon cutting for the Armand E. Sabitoni Laborers’ International Union of North America Training Trust Fund Headquarters in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.

Foulkes came out against the charter school moratorium. But she said Tuesday that she supported the General Assembly’s bill giving the legislative branch the power to opt in to the federal education tax credit program.

“I would say that I would have been fine with what they did, but in general, I’m not supportive of that particular Trump tool,” Foulkes said.

McKee declared his candidacy the day after the North Providence Democratic Town Committee voted 37-2 to endorse him, a welcome boost after the local party committee in his hometown of Cumberland backed Foulkes instead.

On Saturday, McKee received more votes than Foulkes from the state party but not enough to win its endorsement, marking the first time in years that a sitting governor failed to win the support of their party. 

Without endorsements, the order of the candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general on the Democratic ballot will be determined by a lottery back at the Department of State on July 17. The top spot, typically reserved for the party-endorsed candidate, will belong to the candidate whose assigned number is pulled first from a Rhode Island Lottery ball machine. 

McKee, who beat Foulkes by three percentage points in 2022, has to make up ground after recent polling shows him trailing her. But he has declined to appear at a gubernatorial candidates forum Friday afternoon during Grow Smart RI’s Power of Place Summit at the Rhode Island School of Design in downtown Providence. Foulkes is the only Democratic candidate scheduled to attend along with Republican Aaron Guckian and independent Ken Block.

“The idea of building communities of the future could start in a place like Rhode Island,” Foulkes said, adding the state is invested in creating jobs, building housing and providing accessible transportation. “When I think about making Rhode Island an attractive place for young people in particular to live, all of those elements are part of it.”

The deadline for candidates to officially declare their intention to run for office is 4 p.m. Wednesday. 

Which candidates have declared so far?

A total of five Republicans had filed paperwork declaring their candidacy for governor. In addition to Guckian, Emmanuel Boateng Adjei of North Providence; Amy Ann Ferreira of Glocester; Frank R. Gallucci of Cranston; and Elaine Pelino of Smithfield had also filed their candidacy forms. Democrat Steven R. “Will” Gregersen of Providence also filed.

Block and six other independent candidates are running for governor. The others are Jasjit Gotra of East Greenwich; Robert J. Carr of Little Compton; Richard S. Spinney of Newport; Julian J. Smith of Providence; Paul Rianna of Providence; and David Rocha of Providence.

Four Democrats and one Republican have filed to run for attorney general to succeed term-limited Peter Neronha. The Democrats are Kimberly Ahern of Providence; Keith Hoffmann of Providence; Rep. Jason Knight of Barrington; and Rep. Joseph J. Solomon of Warwick. The Republican was Alan Gordon of West Greenwich.

Five Democrats, one Republican and one independent filed to run for lieutenant governor. The Democrats  are Providence City Councilor Sue AnderBois; former state Sen. Cindy Coyne of Barrington; Newport City Councilor Xay Khamsyvoravong; incumbent Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos of Providence; and Ross Kenneth John McCurdy of Smithfield. The Republican is John Loughlin of Tiverton. The independent is Mabel Martinez of Providence.

Reporter Alexander Castro contributed to this story.