Helena Buonanno Foulkes announced her long-expected second campaign for governor on Tuesday, vowing to make state government perform better for Rhode Islanders and to take a strong stand against President Donald Trump.
“It’s not hard to convince people to love Rhode Island,” Foulkes told a gathering of supporters at Roger Williams Park Casino in Providence. “What’s becoming harder and harder is for it to feel like Rhode Island loves you as much as you love it; harder to feel like it’s the kind of place where you can afford to live and build a great future.”
She cited the Washington Bridge as the poster child for how state government is falling short for Rhode Islanders.
“With all the incompetence and bureaucracy, it’s going to take five years in the best-case scenario to fix — five years!” Foulkes said. “People, I gave birth to four children in four and a half years.”
Without going into detail, she said she hopes to bring back faith in government, improve schools, make headway against crises in housing and healthcare, “and to fight against the reckless, illegal and irresponsible policies of the Trump administration.”
Foulkes, 61, is a former top executive at Woonsocket-based CVS who lost a 2022 primary challenge to Gov. Dan McKee, 73, by three points.
McKee’s campaign responded ahead of his rival’s announcement by unveiling a digital ad and website asserting that she “pocketed millions while thousands died of opioid overdoses.”
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit last December alleging that going back to 2013 — a time when Foulkes was in the senior leadership of CVS — the company dispensed controlled substances that lacked a legitimate medical purpose.
At the time, CVS said it had cooperated with DOJ’s investigation for four years “and we strongly disagree with the allegations and false narrative within this complaint.”
On Tuesday, Amy B. Thibeault, a spokesman for CVS, issued this statement regarding the remarks about the company by McKee’s campaign: “It’s unfortunate and discouraging that candidate McKee would use such a serious topic as political fodder. It’s also inappropriate to disparage and intentionally misrepresent the contributions of our 7,000 colleagues who live and work in a state we’ve called home for more than 50 years. At CVS Health, our focus remains on improving the health [of] our friends, families, and neighbors in Rhode Island and across the country.”
During her campaign announcement, Foulkes leaned on her experience at CVS, saying she oversaw a budget of $80 billion — far more than Rhode Island’s $14.3 billion budget.
“I offer my experience as a window into how I lead,” she said, describing how CVS on her watch stopped selling cigarettes at its stores, even though it led to $2 billion a year in lost revenue.
When she took over the leadership of CVS Pharmacy, Foulkes said she quickly responded to what at the time was the peak of the opioid crisis. “We reduced opioid sales by almost 40% during my tenure,” she said.
McKee inherited the governor’s office when his predecessor, Gina Raimondo, became U.S. Commerce secretary in 2021. He defeated GOP candidate Ashley Kalus by a large margin in November 2022 to win a full term.
McKee has faced low approval ratings in recent months, he parted ways with his initial campaign manager, and he lags Foulkes in fundraising.
In a statement released by the state GOP, Kalus (who hasn’t ruled out another run for governor) said Foulkes has a record of failure that should be considered by voters as a warning.
House Speaker Joe Shekarchi is considering a Democratic run for governor. In a statement, he welcomed Foulkes to the race.
The primary election is in September 2026.
