Helena Foulkes

Helena Foulkes

Democratic Party

Candidate, Governor of Rhode Island

Elections and appointments

Next election

November 3, 2026

Contact

Personal LinkedIn

Helena Foulkes (Democratic Party) is running for election for Governor of Rhode Island. She declared candidacy for the 2026 election.^[source]

Elections

2026

See also: Rhode Island gubernatorial election, 2026

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for Governor of Rhode Island

Incumbent Daniel McKee and Helena Foulkes are running in the general election for Governor of Rhode Island on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Daniel McKee (D)
		Helena Foulkes (D)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
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Endorsements

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2022

See also: Rhode Island gubernatorial election, 2022

General election

General election for Governor of Rhode Island

Incumbent Daniel McKee defeated Ashley Kalus, Zachary Baker Hurwitz, Paul Rianna Jr., and Elijah Gizzarelli in the general election for Governor of Rhode Island on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Daniel McKee (D)	57.9	207,166
		Ashley Kalus (R)	38.9	139,001
		Zachary Baker Hurwitz (Independent)	1.3	4,512
		Paul Rianna Jr. (Independent)	0.9	3,123
		Elijah Gizzarelli (L)	0.8	2,811
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	1,057

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 357,670
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• James Aubin (L)
• Christopher Reynolds (Independent)
• Richard Spinney (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Rhode Island

Incumbent Daniel McKee defeated Helena Foulkes, Nellie Gorbea, Matt Brown, and Luis Daniel Muñoz in the Democratic primary for Governor of Rhode Island on September 13, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Daniel McKee	32.8	37,288
		Helena Foulkes	29.9	33,931
		Nellie Gorbea	26.2	29,811
		Matt Brown	7.9	9,021
		Luis Daniel Muñoz	3.1	3,547

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 113,598
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Kalilu Camara (D)
• Seth Magaziner (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Rhode Island

Ashley Kalus defeated Jonathan Riccitelli in the Republican primary for Governor of Rhode Island on September 13, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ashley Kalus	83.7	17,188
		Jonathan Riccitelli	16.3	3,351

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 20,539
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Emmanuel Adjei (R)
• Michael Costa (R)
• David Darlington (R)
• Rey Herrera (R)

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

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2022

Helena Foulkes completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Foulkes' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I was born and raised in Providence, the oldest of 5 kids in a big family. And after college and business school, my husband Bill and I chose to raise our children here. I started mid-level at CVS, and worked my way up, rising through the ranks, holding nearly every leadership position, and I learned how to get big things done. I had four kids in 4 ½ years, and when our youngest was one, I got thyroid cancer. The nurses, doctors, and my boss at work helped so much – and after a few months, I got back on my feet. We need leadership who understands how to get our state back on its feet. I've got a plan to: transform public education, create a clean green economy, build affordable housing, protect a woman’s right to choose, and a tax cut for the middle class.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• So many have suffered so much from COVID, especially our kids. In Rhode Island, only ⅓ of our students are reading at grade level, and it’s even worse for math. If you elect me Governor, I'll make sure every child can access before and after-school, and summer programs to make up for Covid Learning Loss. If our kids aren’t back on track by the end of my term, I won’t seek re-election. Politicians make promises, leaders deliver on them. It's time to get big things done in Rhode Island.
• From the gas pump to the supermarket to your home energy bill, people are getting squeezed. If you elect me Governor, I'll fight for a middle-class tax cut, so working families can keep more of the money they earn. I’ve got a plan to build 20,000 affordable housing units for renters and homeowners in Rhode Island. People work hard to earn their pay and the government should work just as hard to get big things done and make life more affordable for all Rhode Islanders.
• Working my way up over 25 years at CVS in Woonsocket taught me a lot. One lesson was our economy is changing so fast, and we need to change with it. As Governor, I’ll make job training available to everyone free of charge, so people can get the skills they need to work in the jobs they want. We’ll ensure workers can get training on the job, not at an unemployment office. We need a governor who understands the new economy, so our kids don't have to leave home to find work.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I feel so strongly about getting our kids back on track from COVID learning loss, that I promise not to run again if test scores aren’t above what they were before COVID.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Helena Foulkes campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2022	Governor of Rhode Island	Lost primary	$4,621,884	$0
Grand total			$4,621,884	$0
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

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