With just over two weeks to go until the end of Rhode Island’s primary election, Democratic challenger Helena Foulkes holds a 15-point lead over Gov. Dan McKee, according to a WPRI/Emerson College poll released Tuesday.
The poll continues a trend in which McKee has mostly trailed Foulkes by double digits throughout the campaign.
McKee’s camp may argue that the 15-point margin separating him from Foulkes is five points closer than some recent polls, including one last week by the Pell Center at Salve Regina University.
But when respondents were asked in which direction they lean, 61% chose Foulkes and 39% McKee, suggesting she has a significant edge with the 25% of undecided voters in the WPRI/Emerson poll.
The Washington Bridge, a palpable source of frustration for many Rhode Islanders, remains a political problem for McKee — 63% of respondents somewhat or strongly disapprove of his handling of the issue.
Among Foulkes’ supporters, 83% frown on the incumbent governor’s response to the bridge crisis.
Foulkes fares better – or less worse – on her handling of the opioid issue while at CVS.
McKee’s campaign has for months tried to connect Foulkes role at one of Rhode Island’s largest corporations to the spread of opioids, and 46% of respondents somewhat or strongly disapprove of how she responded. Among McKee voters, the disapproval is 65%.
Looking ahead to the November general election, the WPRI/Emerson poll suggests that Foulkes could have a good shot of winning, while McKee would face more of a fight.
In a general election matchup, Foulkes gets 45% of the vote, compared with 21% for independent Ken Block, 18% for an unspecified GOP candidate, 1% each for Jay Gotra and C.D. Reynolds, and 14% undecided.
If McKee is the general election candidate, the poll found he gets 36% of the vote, Block has 26%, the GOP nominee 17%, Reynolds 2%, Gotra 1%, and undecided 19%.
The WPRI/Emerson poll was conducted Aug. 21-22 by contacting voters through text and through interviews. It has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
Voting in the primary election began Aug 20. and ends Sept. 9.
