Rhode Island
Competence on the Ballot: Rhode Island’s Primary Puts the Washington Bridge Mess Front and Center
What happened
Rhode Island’s Sept. 9 Democratic primary pits incumbent Gov. Dan McKee against former CVS executive Helena Foulkes. Coverage centers on McKee’s handling of the Washington Bridge: the westbound span was closed in December 2023 after critical flaws were found; demolition/replacement followed, and reopening has slipped to a projected November 2028. The bridge carries roughly 100,000 vehicles a day between Providence and East Providence.
AP’s Decision Notes also note Foulkes’s fundraising edge, independent polling that has favored her, and the political weight of a long, disruptive infrastructure failure in a Democratic-leaning state where the primary winner is usually the November favorite.
Original reporting
Read the underlying article:
AP Decision Notes via WSLS — What to expect in Rhode Island’s state primary (Sept. 7, 2026)
Virtue Forge commentary
Infrastructure is not a branding exercise. When a core highway link fails and stays broken for years, voters are right to treat competence as a non-negotiable civic virtue—exactly the standard Virtue Forge exists to demand.
A free-enterprise, pro-American lens does not excuse government failure with process jargon. Taxpayers funded the system that was supposed to keep the bridge safe and open. If inspectors, managers, and elected overseers missed or soft-pedaled risk, that is a competence and honesty problem—not a reason to expand the state’s footprint further.
Competition in politics, like competition in markets, is healthy: incumbents should not enjoy a free pass when delivery collapses. Rhode Islanders deserve officials who treat public trust as something earned by results, not tenure.