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Rhode Island gubernatorial election, 2026 (September 8 Democratic primary)

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Governor of Rhode Island
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: June 24, 2026
Primary: September 8, 2026
General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times:

7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voting in Rhode Island

Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Likely Democratic
Inside Elections: Solid Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
Federal and state primary competitiveness
State executive elections in 2026
Impact of term limits in 2026
State government trifectas
State government triplexes
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
Rhode Island
executive elections
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Lieutenant Governor
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A Democratic Party primary takes place on September 8, 2026, in Rhode Island to determine which candidate will earn the right to run as the party's nominee in the state's gubernatorial election on November 3, 2026.


This page focuses on Rhode Island's Democratic Party gubernatorial primary. For more in-depth information on Rhode Island's Republican gubernatorial primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

  • Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
  • Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Rhode Island

Incumbent Daniel McKee, Helena Foulkes, and Gregory Stevens are running in the Democratic primary for Governor of Rhode Island on September 8, 2026.

Candidate
Image of Daniel McKee
Daniel McKee
Image of Helena Foulkes
Helena Foulkes
Image of Gregory Stevens
Gregory Stevens Candidate Connection

Incumbents are bolded and underlined.

Candidate Connection = 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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Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Gregory Stevens

Image of Gregory Stevens

WebsiteFacebookYouTube

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Submitted Biography:  "My name is Greg Stevens. I’m a lifelong Rhode Islander, small-business owner, father, and someone who has spent more than 30 years building jobs, solving problems, and navigating the same challenges that everyday Rhode Islanders face. I founded Pat’s Italian Restaurants and grew it into a multi-location business that employs dozens of people. I didn’t inherit wealth or political connections — I built my career from the ground up, working long hours, managing tight budgets, and learning firsthand how government inefficiency and high costs hold people back. In my industry, you can’t hide behind titles. If something breaks, you fix it. If costs rise, you adapt. If an employee needs help, you take care of them. That hands-on responsibility shaped the way I see Rhode Island and the way I approach leadership. I’m running for Governor because I talk to real people every day — seniors struggling with healthcare, families overwhelmed by utility bills, workers trying to stay ahead, and small businesses fighting through red tape just to survive. Rhode Island has incredible potential, but too many people feel ignored by leaders who are out of touch with the realities of daily life. I’m not a career politician. I’m someone who listens, works hard, and isn’t afraid to make tough decisions. I believe Rhode Island deserves a government that moves faster, costs less, and works for everyone — and I’m ready to deliver that."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

Growing Revenue Without Raising Taxes Rhode Island is leaving money on the table. We lose millions every year in uncollected sales and use taxes, especially from out-of-state contractors, online sellers, and short-term rentals. I’ll strengthen enforcement and modernize tracking so everyone pays their fair share. I’ll also expand tourism — one of our strongest but most underutilized revenue sources — and make government smaller, more efficient, and less expensive to run.

Safe Communities and Strong Local Economies A safe state and a strong economy go hand in hand. I’ll work with federal partners to remove violent criminals while supporting prevention and treatment programs that strengthen communities. Small businesses are the backbone of Rhode Island, and I’ll streamline permits, reduce unnecessary regulations, and make it easier to open and grow a business. Families deserve safe neighborhoods, good jobs, and a state that supports opportunity.

Government That Works for Real People Rhode Islanders deserve a government that moves faster, wastes less, and actually solves problems. As a business owner, I’ve spent 30 years fixing issues, cutting inefficiency, and being accountable every day — no excuses. As Governor, I will modernize outdated systems, speed up permitting, demand performance from state agencies, and create a government that serves people instead of slowing them down.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Rhode Island

Election information in Rhode Island: Sep. 8, 2026, election.

What is the voter registration deadline?

  • In-person: Aug. 9, 2026
  • By mail: Postmarked by Aug. 9, 2026
  • Online: Aug. 9, 2026

Is absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

N/A

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

  • In-person: Aug. 18, 2026
  • By mail: Received by Aug. 18, 2026
  • Online: Aug. 18, 2026

What is the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

  • In-person: Sep. 8, 2026
  • By mail: Received by Sep. 8, 2026

Is early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What are the early voting start and end dates?

Aug. 19, 2026 to Sep. 7, 2026

Are all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, is a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When are polls open on Election Day?

7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (ET)


Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

Polls are conducted with a variety of methodologies and have margins of error or credibility intervals.[1] The Pew Research Center wrote, "A margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level means that if we fielded the same survey 100 times, we would expect the result to be within 3 percentage points of the true population value 95 of those times."[2] For tips on reading polls from FiveThirtyEight, click here. For tips from Pew, click here.

Below we provide results for polls from a wide variety of sources, including media outlets, social media, campaigns, and aggregation websites, when available. We only report polls for which we can find a margin of error or credibility interval. Know of something we're missing? Click here to let us know.


Rhode Island gubernatorial Democratic primary, 2026 polls
PollDatesFoulkesMcKeeStevensOtherUndecidedSample sizeMargin of error
University of New Hampshire
–
34184341
364 LV
± 5.1%
University of New Hampshire (with hypothetical Shekarchi candidacy)
Note

Hypothetical matchup between McKee, Foulkes and state House speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi (D). Other includes results for Shekarchi (13%)

–
2911----61
364 LV
± 5.1%
University of New Hampshire (without hypothetical Shekarchi candidacy)
–
3812----43
364 LV
± 5.1%
Note: LV is likely voters, RV is registered voters, and EV is eligible voters.


Election analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about demographics, past elections, and partisan control of the state.

  • Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the state.
  • Statewide elections - Information about recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections in the state.
  • State partisanship - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.
  • Demographics - Information about the state's demographics and how they compare to the country as a whole.


See also: Presidential voting trends in Rhode Island and The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Cook PVI by congressional district

Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index for Rhode Island, 2026
DistrictIncumbentPVI
Rhode Island's 1stGabe AmoD+12
Rhode Island's 2ndSeth MagazinerD+4

2024 presidential results by 2026 congressional district lines

2024 presidential results in congressional districts, Rhode Island
DistrictKamala Harris Democratic PartyDonald Trump Republican Party
Rhode Island's 1st60.0%38.0%
Rhode Island's 2nd52.0%46.0%
Source: The Downballot

2016-2024

How a state's counties vote in a presidential election and the size of those counties can provide additional insights into election outcomes at other levels of government including statewide and congressional races. Below, four categories are used to describe each county's voting pattern over the 2016, 2020, and 2024 presidential elections: Solid, Trending, Battleground, and New. Click [show] on the table below for examples:


Following the 2024 presidential election, 84.4% of Rhode Islanders lived in one of the state's 4 Solid Democratic counties, which voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in every election from 2016 to 2024, and 15.6% lived in one of 1 Trending Democratic counties. Overall, Rhode Island was Solid Democratic, having voted for Hillary Clinton (D) in 2016, Joe Biden (D) in 2020, and Kamala Harris (D) in 2024. Use the table below to view the total number of each type of county in Rhode Island following the 2024 election as well as the overall percentage of the state population located in each county type.

Historical voting trends

Rhode Island presidential election results (1900-2024)

  • 22 Democratic wins
  • 10 Republican wins
Year 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Winning Party R R R D R R R D D D D D D R R D D D R D D R D D D D D D D D D D

This section details the results of the five most recent U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections held in the state.

U.S. Senate elections

See also: List of United States Senators from Rhode Island

The table below details the vote in the five most recent U.S. Senate races in Rhode Island.

U.S. Senate election results in Rhode Island
RaceWinnerRunner up
202459.9%Democratic Party39.8%Republican Party
202066.6%Democratic Party33.4%Republican Party
201861.6%Democratic Party38.4%Republican Party
201470.6%Democratic Party29.3%Republican Party
201264.8%Democratic Party35.0%Republican Party
Average64.735.2

Gubernatorial elections

See also: Governor of Rhode Island

The table below details the vote in the five most recent gubernatorial elections in Rhode Island.

Gubernatorial election results in Rhode Island
RaceWinnerRunner up
202257.9%Democratic Party38.9%Republican Party
201852.6%Democratic Party37.2%Republican Party
201440.7%Democratic Party36.2%Republican Party
201036.1%Grey.png (Independent)33.6%Republican Party
200651.0%Republican Party49.0%Democratic Party
Average47.739.0
See also: Party control of Rhode Island state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Rhode Island's congressional delegation as of October 2025.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Rhode Island
Party U.S. Senate U.S. House Total
Democratic 2 2 4
Republican 0 0 0
Independent 0 0 0
Vacancies 0 0 0
Total 2 2 4

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Rhode Island's top four state executive offices as of October 2025.

State executive officials in Rhode Island, October 2025
OfficeOfficeholder
GovernorDemocratic Party Daniel McKee
Lieutenant GovernorDemocratic Party Sabina Matos
Secretary of StateDemocratic Party Gregg Amore
Attorney GeneralDemocratic Party Peter Neronha

State legislature

Rhode Island State Senate

Party As of October 2025
     Democratic Party 34
     Republican Party 4
     Other 0
     Vacancies 0
Total 38

Rhode Island House of Representatives

Party As of October 2025
     Democratic Party 64
     Republican Party 10
     Other 1
     Vacancies 0
Total 75

Trifecta control

Rhode Island Party Control: 1992-2025
Sixteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Governor D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R I I D D D D D D D D D D D D D
Senate D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
House D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D

The table below details demographic data in Rhode Island and compares it to the broader United States as of 2023.

Demographic Data for Rhode Island
Rhode Island United States
Population 1,097,379 331,449,281
Land area (sq mi) 1,033 3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White 72.3% 63.4%
Black/African American 5.8% 12.4%
Asian 3.5% 5.8%
Native American 0.4% 0.9%
Pacific Islander 0.2% 0.4%
Other (single race) 7.1% 6.6%
Multiple 10.7% 10.7%
Hispanic/Latino 17.1% 19%
Education
High school graduation rate 89.5% 89.4%
College graduation rate 37.3% 35%
Income
Median household income $86,372 $78,538
Persons below poverty level 10.9% 12.4%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2018-2023).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

State profile

Demographic data for Rhode Island
 Rhode IslandU.S.
Total population:1,055,607316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):1,0343,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:81.1%73.6%
Black/African American:6.5%12.6%
Asian:3.2%5.1%
Native American:0.5%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0%0.2%
Two or more:2.8%3%
Hispanic/Latino:13.6%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:86.2%86.7%
College graduation rate:31.9%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$56,852$53,889
Persons below poverty level:17.3%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Rhode Island.
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Rhode Island

Rhode Island voted for the Democratic candidate in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, one is located in Rhode Island, accounting for 0.5 percent of the total pivot counties.[3]

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Rhode Island had one Boomerang Pivot County, 4.00 percent of all Boomerang Pivot Counties.

More Rhode Island coverage on Ballotpedia

See also

Rhode Island State Executive Elections News and Analysis
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Rhode Island State Executive Offices
Rhode Island State Legislature
Rhode Island Courts
2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016
Rhode Island elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016
Party control of state government
State government trifectas
State of the state addresses
Partisan composition of governors

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ For more information on the difference between margins of error and credibility intervals, see explanations from the American Association for Public Opinion Research and Ipsos.
  2. ↑ Pew Research Center, "5 key things to know about the margin of error in election polls," September 8, 2016
  3. ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.


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