Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha announced Friday he will not run for governor in 2026.
“I am grateful to Rhode Islanders for electing me twice as their attorney general, and for the encouragement of many to run for some other office in 2026,” Neronha said in an emailed statement. “But attorney general is the only elected office I have ever been truly interested in, and politics for me was a means to an end, not an end in and of itself.”
He continued: “After much discussion with my wife and sons, who stood with and spoke for me on that beautiful Jamestown morning eight years ago, we’ve decided that it will be time for me to move on at the end of 2026.”
Neronha’s decision leaves two announced Democrats vying for the governor’s office: Gov. Dan McKee and former CVS Health executive Helena Buonanno Foulkes. House Speaker Joe Shekarchi is considering entering the race ahead of the September 2026 primary.
Asked who he is supporting for governor, Neronha said via text message he hadn’t thought it through, “but safe to say I will not be supporting the current governor.”
That remark reflects the fractious relationship between Neronha and McKee, with the two men clashing, among other things, on the award of a controversial COVID-related contract by the governor’s office. Neronha called it a manipulated process, while McKee accused Neronha of being politically motivated.
Neronha, 61, was first elected as attorney general in 2018 and he won re-election in 2022. He cannot seek re-election due to term limits.
Neronha released his decision not to run for governor exactly eight years after announcing in 2017 in his native Jamestown — not far from where his great-grandfather emigrated from the Azores — his run for attorney general.
Neronha established an activist profile as the state’s top prosecutor, getting involved in the uncertain future of two cash-strapped local hospitals, steering money from an environmental settlement to dental care for poor Providence children, helping to launch more than 30 lawsuits against the Trump administration, and freely sharing his views on social media.
The decision likely means that after leaving office in 2027, he will not be working for the government after decades as a state and federal prosecutor.
Neronha’s announcement is not particularly surprising, since he had not been taking part in the kind of fundraising typical of future candidates.
Before becoming attorney general, Neronha served as Rhode Island’s U.S. attorney after being appointed by President Obama.
As for the state’s next attorney general, Neronha has put his support behind a former prosecutor in his office, Keith Hoffmann, to succeed him. State Rep. Jason Knight (D-Barrington) plans to announce his campaign Monday, and other candidates may get into the race.
@RepJoeSolomon tells me: "I'm strongly considering running for attorney general. I'm discussing it with my family and supporters and plan on making a decision soon."
— Ian Donnis (@IanDonnis) October 3, 2025
