by Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current
April 2, 2026
A Barrington software engineer who searched for voter fraud on behalf of the Trump campaign — and found none — is making his third attempt to run for the governor’s office.
This time, Ken Block is running as an independent candidate.
“My flavor of politics doesn’t align well with either political party,” Block, 60, said in a phone interview. “Political parties by definition imply a healthy dose of partisanship — I am a problem solver, a manager, and the problems that Rhode Island suffers from aren’t problems that partisanship can address.”
Block unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2010 as the Moderate Party’s candidate — a party he founded. He finished fourth with 6.5 % of the vote in the general election. He ran again as a Republican in 2014, losing the GOP primary to then-Cranston Mayor Allan Fung by 10 percentage points.
He announced his campaign in a post on X Thursday morning.
“I have decided to run for Rhode Island governor because, like so many of you, I can no longer tolerate the dysfunction, waste, and warped priorities of our state government,” Block posted.
The choice to avoid either major political party also means he won’t have to take part in the September primary, which he anticipated will be messy, expensive, and damaging.
“I get to wait for whoever emerges from theirs, and I like the way that’s set up,” he said.
His newly launched campaign website touts his interest in government, which led him to “take on some of Rhode Island’s most entrenched political challenges.”
That includes being a leading voice of the successful campaign that led state lawmakers in 2013 to eliminate the “master lever” for straight-party voting from Rhode Island elections.
Block runs the data mining company Simpatico Software Systems. In 2020, he was hired by President Donald Trump’s campaign to search for evidence of voter fraud that allegedly led to Joe Biden defeating him. Block never found anything substantial to back those allegations, which he detailed in his 2024 book, “Disproven: My Unbiased Search for Voter Fraud for the Trump Campaign, the Data that Shows Why He Lost, and How We Can Improve Our Elections.”
Block has been especially critical of the way Gov. Dan McKee and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) handled oversight on the Washington Bridge — going so far as to purchase billboards along Interstate 195 in May of 2024 stating, “If they had done their job, you would be home already.”
“The fact that the topic is still out there unresolved, unexplained, and with nothing given to us to make sure that this sort of thing doesn’t happen again is everything the government shouldn’t be doing,” he said Thursday.
The Washington Bridge is just one example contributing to what Block cites as Rhode Island’s “crisis of competence.” Another is the state’s recent payroll mishaps, which began after public employees were first mailed incorrect W-2 tax forms that listed the employer name as “State of Rhode Island Umbrella Company.”
The corrected forms sent afterward were in envelopes which potentially exposed employees’ Social Security numbers and led to the firing of the director of the Department of Administration on March 6, the day the error was revealed by the state.
“We cannot continue as a state making mistakes like this over and over again, but that’s what we’re doing,” Block said. “People don’t want to see their tax dollars wasted.”
Block enters a crowded race that includes three Democrats and three Republicans.
A high-profile Democratic primary rematch is ramping up between McKee and former CVS executive Helena Buonanno Foulkes. Democrat Gregory Stevens has also declared his candidacy for governor.
Sophie Mestas, a spokesperson for McKee’s campaign, offered the following statement when asked for comment on Block’s candidacy.
“Governor McKee is laser-focused on what matters most to families: lowering costs, keeping Rhode Island’s economy moving forward, and protecting Rhode Islanders from Donald Trump’s chaos,” Mestas said in an email. “That is the record that delivers a win in September and a win in November.”
Foulke’s campaign also sidestepped Block’s candidacy when asked for comment.
“With all of the chaos and cruelty coming out of the Trump administration, Rhode Island needs a strong Democratic governor, and Helena looks forward to being that governor,” campaign spokesperson Angelika Pellegrino said in an emailed statement.
Republicans who have announced their bids for governor include Aaron Guckian, Elaine Pelino, and Robert Raimondo.
Guckian, an aide to former Gov. Don Carcieri, said he respects Block’s subject matter expertise, but that Rhode Island needs someone more decisive as its leader.
“Rhode Island is at a crossroads, and we do not have time for uncertainty,” Guckian said.
Block scoffed at Guckian’s assessment of his candidacy.
“Quite frankly, Aaron’s willingness to go willy-nilly into something without doing the proper research and having the evidence that he can be successful probably isn’t something Rhode Island needs,” he said.
Block had no money in his existing campaign finance account as of Dec. 31, the state’s most recent filing deadline.
Earlier this year, Foulkes reported having $2.82 million in her campaign account. McKee had $1.11 million.
Guckian raised $43,500 from individual donations since launching his gubernatorial campaign on Dec. 1. He ended the year with the same balance in his account.
Pelino, a retired comedian, received just over $1,800 in fourth-quarter donations, ending the year with $2,840 cash on hand, including a $500 personal loan. Raimondo, who claims to be a distant relative of former Gov. Gina Raimondo, did not raise or spend any money as of Dec. 31, according to his campaign finance report.
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