The Graduate (fka Biltmore) being up for auction right after it hosted a big election night celebration of Democrats is indeed a full Rhode Island. Thanks for stopping by. You can follow me through the week on Bluesky, Threads and X.
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1. STORY OF THE WEEK
Helena Foulkes was a juggernaut in Rhode Island’s 2026 election season. She ousted incumbent Gov. Dan McKee in the September primary, beating him by 24 points. And while some election-watchers expected a closer general election race, Foulkes rolled to a massive 30-point victory over her nearest rival, independent Ken Block. On her second run for governor, Foulkes’ strategy – walk softly and carry a big (campaign finance) stick – worked like a charm. She was disciplined in her messaging, generally steered clear of unforced errors and dominated the airwaves with her extensive fundraising. Foulkes also benefited from her matchups. McKee was mortally wounded by the Washington Bridge. Block is a big brain, but he didn’t pull together the money, messaging or organization necessary to make a more competitive run. The Barrington resident put his hopes on his better favorables immediately after the primary, overlooking how well-funded Democrats with tepid approval ratings (David Cicilline in 2012, Gina Raimondo in 2018) easily overcame grim expectations.
Foulkes is now inviting Rhode Islanders to share their “big ideas” and express interest in joining her team, as she pursues her transition and initial steps. (Don’t be surprised if such experienced hands as PR maven Jon Duffy, former Carcieri CoS Jeff Grybowski and perhaps the Providence Chamber’s Laurie White play a role.) During a post-election availability with reporters, Foulkes vowed early action on energy costs and tenants’ rights, along with efforts on modular housing and restoring cuts to RIPTA.
The governor-elect has good communication skills, she pledges to hire top-tier talent for state government and she may get a bit of a honeymoon with voters. But Rhode Island’s most difficult challenges tend to defy easy solutions — how long have we been talking about improving under-performing public schools? — so there’s clearly a lot on the plate. During her media availability, Foulkes mentioned the crisis in healthcare. There’s the perennial need for a more robust economy, the housing crisis, the impact of federal policies on Rhode Island, the need to raise the level of confidence in state government and so on. Come Jan. 5, responsibility for all this and more will land on the desk of Rhode Island’s new governor.
2. RI’S DC POWER MOVE
Widespread disbelief would have been the reaction if someone told you a year ago that Democrats would retake the U.S. Senate, winning in such places as Texas. But predictions of new eras of dominance for either party tend to get eventually overtaken by changing circumstances. Now that the voters have spoken, Rhode Island’s four-member congressional delegation is poised to gain significant influence, with U.S. Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse expected to chair, respectively, the Senate Armed Service and Judiciary committees. U.S. Reps. Gabe Amo and Seth Magaziner will serve in the majority for their first time in Congress. That could mean forward motion for Magaziner’s bill to ban stock-trading by members of Congress – an issue that got a ton of media coverage this campaign season.
Amo is also pumped. “If you know anything about the House, you know that when you’re in the majority, you set the agenda,” he told me in an interview the day after the election. When it comes to delivering on Americans’ concerns about affordability, Amo said, “We should do what we said we’re going to do. We’ve spent the last two years talking about how difficult it is for people to get the healthcare they deserve.” Amo said Democrats should focus their efforts on reversing the Trump administration’s cuts to Medicaid, extending enhanced premium credits for HealthSourceRI, working to end the war in Iran and cutting tariffs.
Trump, of course, still wields the veto pen.
3. TRUMP’S SETBACK
The backlash against the White House was a clear takeaway from the midterm election. A few local notes on that:
***Rep. Magaziner’s GOP opponent, MAGA supporter Victor Mellor, spent millions in the course of an aggressive campaign and only got 38 percent of the vote – seven points less than President Trump got in CD2 in 2024.
***President Trump’s biggest supporter in the General Assembly is arguably state Sen. Elaine Morgan (R-Hopkinton), a six-term incumbent who, after J6, shared a Facebook meme blaming leftists for the insurrection. In past elections, she’s dispatched challengers with ease. This time around, Richmond Town Council President Samantha Wilcox, a Democrat, beat Morgan on a six-point margin, 53% to 47%.
***Burrillville was Trump’s best Rhode Island community in 2024 and the formerly Democratic town remains a conservative bastion. Republican Ray McKay beat Sen. Reed there, 50% to 46%, John Loughlin ran well ahead of Sabina Matos, 59% to 41%, Republican Alan Gordon outpaced Kim Ahern for AG, 54% to 46% and so on.
4. GOP DISARRAY
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis didn’t have Rhode Island in mind when he called the midterm results an “extinction-level event for Republicans.” But there will be so few Republicans (2) in the 2026-27 RI Senate that the chamber has to change its rules regarding bipartisan representation on committees. That appears to be an all-time low for the GOP, Cranston historian Steve Frias told me. In the House of Representatives, the Republican presence is set to shrink from 10 to eight members. And GOP candidate for governor Aaron Guckian got just 13% of the vote. LG candidate John Loughlin was widely seen as the best Republican hope, but he got a few points less of the vote than Guckian got while running for LG four years ago. (A sharp-eyed reader wrote to say he found it ironic, given the party’s recent devotion to President Trump, that Loughlin said in 2012 that GOP candidates in Rhode Island can't win “because of the ring-wing elements that have kind of co-opted the party.”)
The Republican 2022 candidate for governor, Ashley Kalus, offered a post-mortem via an opinion piece in the ProJo, calling out what she characterized as a system-wide failure and a need to rebuild: “This week, nobody beat the Rhode Island Republican Party. It forfeited. Recruiting, vetting, fundraising, turnout. Those are a party’s four jobs. We failed every one.”
6. RI’S FUTURE IS FEMALE
For the first time, three of Rhode Island’s five state general officers will be women – an outcome this column flagged Oct. 2 as worth watching. In addition to Gov-elect Foulkes, Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos rolled to a 19-point victory over GOP challenger John Loughlin and Kim Ahern will take office as Rhode Island’s first Democratic woman (and openly gay) attorney general.
The General Assembly will also have a higher percentage of women with Democrat Sen-elect Nelly Burdette beating Sen. Thomas Paolino (R-Lincoln), Democrat Veronicka Vega defeating state Rep. Jon Brien (I-Woonsocket), Democrat Amy Santiago winning the seat vacated by Rep. David Morales (D-Providence) and Democrat Nicole Jellinek winning the seat vacated by her husband, state Rep. Jason Knight (D-Barrington). The only seat going from female to male is former Sen. James Sheehan’s win for the seat vacated by state Rep. Julie Casimiro (D-North Kingstown).
7. THE BIG SPEND
For better or worse, money is a dominant influence in American politics – and that’s unlikely to change given the trend line of the U.S. Supreme Court away from efforts to create a more level playing field or even offer free air time to candidates.
A few notes on this topic:
$$$ The 2026 contest is expected to be the most expensive election in history, with an estimated $12 billion in spending.
$$$ On election night, Ken Block compared how he spent about $400,000 to the millions spent by Helena Foulkes and her supporters. “But I ran the race I wanted to run,” he said. “A race based on ideas and solutions without a party price tag. Good ideas should get a fair hearing even when they don’t come with a multi-million dollar advertising budget," he said. Foulkes defended her approach, saying money was important in taking on an incumbent governor, although she also argued her support was broad enough to include a lot of small donors.
$$$ Writing in the Rhode Island Current, Robert T.F. Downes, an adjunct at Rhode Island College, notes a distinction between Rhode Island and neighboring Connecticut; the Nutmeg State generally limits “registered communicator lobbyists” to donating $100 to covered state candidates and political committees. As Downes writes, “Given Providence’s proximity to Hartford, the contrast merits consideration. A lobbyist who may contribute $2,000 to a Rhode Island legislative candidate would generally face a $100 limit when making contributions to a comparable Connecticut candidate, with additional restrictions during the legislative session.”
8. CITY HAUL
With Nithya Ramar’s victory in Los Angles, David Morales is now part of the shorthand for Democratic socialists who have won mayoral wins in American cities. Providence was certified a ‘major’ American city by a New York Times headline for a story on cities that elected a Democratic Socialist mayor.
Morales won more than 80% of the vote to become, at age 28, the youngest mayor in PVD history. He continues to set the stage for taking the reins of city government, creating nine policy-based committees for his transition and outlining his transition team. During an interview on Joseph R. Paolino Jr.’s In the Arena show on Coastal ABC last weekend, Morales supporter Daniel Denvir responded to the tempest about his remark about turning Providence into a laboratory for municipal socialism by paraphrasing an old Buddy-ism: there is no Democratic socialist way to plow snow. Rather, Denvir said, he expects the Morales administration to strive to effectively deliver city services in a way that responds to residents’ needs.
9. PVD’S CULINARY MECCA
Long before Providence became a dining destination, Al Forno helped put Rhode Island’s capital on the map. Opened in 1980, it’s still going strong, and it's still powered by owner and co-founder Johanne Killeen. The restaurant gained worldwide fame when the International Herald Tribune in 1993 called it "the best casual restaurant in the world." Co-founder George Germon, who died in 2015, is credited with creating grilled pizza. He convinced Killeen to stay in Providence when she had a notion about moving to New York City – and she’s glad he did. Twenty-six years after I profiled Al Forno in the Providence Phoenix, Killeen and I caught up on One on One for an extended conversation about food, restaurants and Providence.
10. NEWS IN BRIEF
Ed Fitzpatrick reports on how Luis Matos is expected to face questions about his views on reproductive rights as part of the confirmation process for the RI Supreme Court …. Woonsocket-based CVS plans to split off its drugstore business, moving away from a single vertically integrated corporation …. After being targeted by President Trump, Vineyard Wind is up and running.
11. TAKING ON OVERDOSES
Since opening in January 2025, Rhode Island’s overdose prevention center has recorded more than 12,000 visits and 200 overdose interventions. Overdoses have fallen significantly in the state, but it’s unclear what role the center near Rhode Island Hospital has played in that. The overdose center, approved by the General Assembly in 2021, also faces questions about future funding. My colleague Luis Hernandez toured the center and he offers an in-depth look at it.
12. KICKER
Ocean State Job Lot is a $900 million a year Rhode Island success story with 177 stores and expansion in the mid-Atlantic. Co-founder Marc Perlman, his brother and a friend launched the business by each kicking in $500, renting a truck and buying stuff at bankruptcy auctions. “It wasn’t complicated. Buy it, sell it for more than you paid for it, you’re moving in the right direction,” said Perlman. Despite some early challenges, the company is now an iconic name in Rhode Island. Read or watch my colleague Isabella Jibilian’s excellent story to learn why Ocean State Job Lot is prospering at a time when some discount firms have fallen by the wayside.
