Press Release: 5/20/2026
Rhode Island 2026: Helena Foulkes Leads Incumbent Governor McKee in Democratic Primary
May 20th, 2026
59% Say Rhode Island Is Headed in the Wrong Direction
A new Emerson College Polling/WPRI-TV 12 News survey of Rhode Island finds incumbent Governor Dan McKee trailing businesswoman Helena Foulkes in the Democratic primary by 20 points, 20% to 40%. Thirty-seven percent are undecided ahead of the September primary.
“Registered Democrats support Foulkes over Governor McKee by a 12-point margin, 37% to 25%, while independent voters break more significantly for Foulkes by 32 points, 45% to 13%,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said.
McKee is viewed unfavorably by 60% of Rhode Island voters, while 21% have a favorable view of him. Among Democratic Primary voters, 29% have a favorable view of McKee and 50% an unfavorable view. Foulkes’ favorability is split: 27% have a favorable view of her and 29% have an unfavorable view of her. Among Democratic Primary voters, 35% have a favorable view of Foulkes and 23% an unfavorable view.
Looking ahead to the November general election, 33% would support McKee in a general election between McKee, the Republican candidate and independent candidate Ken Block, while 23% support the generic Republican candidate, 22% Block, and 17% are undecided. In a hypothetical matchup between Foulkes, a generic Republican candidate and Block, 39% support Foulkes, 21% the Republican, 19% Block, and 19% are undecided.
Independent candidate Block holds a 19% favorable rating among Rhode Island likely voters, while 23% have an unfavorable view of him. Republican candidate Aaron Guckian holds a 10% favorable rating and a 15% unfavorable rating.
President Trump has a 31% job approval rating among Rhode Island likely voters, while 61% disapprove of the job he is doing in office.
Senator Jack Reed holds a 42% job approval rating, 38% disapprove of the job Reed is doing as Senator.
A majority of voters are undecided (72%) in the Democratic Primary for Attorney General; 9% support Kim Ahern, 9% Joe Solomon Jr., 5% Keith Hoffmann, 5% Jason Knight.
Voters oppose the appointment of former House Speaker Joe Shekarchi to the Rhode Island Supreme Court 36% to 21%, while 44% are not sure.
The economy is the top issue for Rhode Island voters at 31%, followed by housing affordability at 21%, healthcare at 12%, and infrastructure at 10%.
Voters are not confident in Rhode Island’s Department of Transportation to properly manage the state’s roads and bridges: 77% are not too confident or not at all confident, 19% are somewhat confident, and 4% are very confident.
Methodology
The Emerson College Polling/WPRI-TV 12 News Rhode Island survey was conducted May 14-16, 2026. The overall sample of likely voters, n=1,000, has a credibility interval, similar to a poll’s margin of error (MOE), of +/- 3 percent. The sample of likely Democratic Primary voters, n=565, has a credibility interval of +/- 4.1 percent. The data sets were weighted by gender, education, race, age, party registration, and region based on U.S. Census parameters and voter file data.
It is important to remember that subsets based on demographics, such as gender, age, education, and race/ethnicity, carry with them higher credibility intervals, as the sample size is reduced. Survey results should be understood within the poll’s range of scores, and with a confidence interval of 95% a poll will fall outside the range of scores 1 in 20 times.
Data was collected by contacting registered voters from a voter file provided by Aristotle using MMS text-to-web, and panel interviews provided by PureSpectrum. The survey was hosted on QuestionPro. All respondents were recruited using customized links that prevent responses from anyone outside of the poll’s sample frame. Panel responses were matched to the Aristotle voter file using respondents’ full name and ZIP code. The survey was offered in English.
All questions asked in this survey with exact wording and order, along with full results, demographics, and cross tabulations can be found below. The survey was sponsored by WPRI-TV 12 News.