What started as a very crowded field for the governor’s race has narrowed considerably, but a spirited primary election looms for both parties, with a well-known independent entering the fray in the general election.
Meanwhile, there have also been some updates (as of noon, July 14) to the total number of signatures collected by candidates and reported by the Secretary of States office on Friday. The deadline for filing nomination papers was last Friday (July 10), but local Boards of Canvassers have until Thursday (July 16) to certify signatures. July 16
Candidates do not qualify for ballot placement until signatures are certified.
Yesterday (July 13) was the deadline for candidates for local office to file withdrawals of candidacy, July 17 is the deadline for candidates for federal or state office to file withdrawals of candidacy, and July 17 is the date when ballot placement is determined by lottery for primary and general elections.
Since Friday, in the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Connor Francis Burbridge saw his signature totals increase from the 733 reported Friday to 1,263 reported at noon today (July 14). The minimum number of signatures required to run for senate is 1,000.
If all signatures are verified, that sets up a Democratic primary election between Senator Jack Reed, and challengers Luis Daniel Munoz and Burbridge. The Republican candidate is Raymond T. McKay. An independent, Michael Anthony Bahry, also appears to have sufficient signatures (1,525 as of noon July 14) to run in the November general election.
In the first Congressional race, independent Pedro Junior Soars De Souza, who was listed with no signatures on Friday, but today at 2 p.m. the Secretary of State’s office reported he collected 512 signatures, 12 more than the 500 needed to run,
Burbridge, 31, is an Army veteran, small business owner, and has been considered a progressive. According to the FEC, Burbridge had $866 cash in hand as of March 3 in his campaign account.
Governor
In the governor’s race, five Democrats and five Republicans had declared their candidacies, along with nine independents.
As of noon today (July 14) two Democrats and two Republicans, and two independents were listed as collecting more than the 1,000 signatures required to qualify to run for governor. Signatures will be certified on July 16.
Gov. Dan McKee, with 1,564 signatures and Helena Buonanno Foulkes, with 1,423 signatures (as of noon today, July 14) collected sufficient signatures to qualify to run. Foulkes nearly upended McKee in the Democratic primary four years ago.
The Republicans are Aaron Guckian, who ran for lieutenant governor four years ago, and Elaine Pelino, a former actress and model. Guckian collected 1,838 signatures and Pelino collected 1,379.
McKee, 75, was mayor of Cumberland for 12 years before running and winning the lieutenant governor’s position in 2011. In 2021 he assumed the governor’s position when Gov. Gina Raimondo joined the administration of President Joe Biden. McKee was reelected governor in 2022. Before politics, McKee was a small business owner. As of April 30, McKee had $1,355,116 in his campaign account.
Buonanno Foulkes, 61, is making her second run for governor, squaring off against McKee in a primary election for the second time. She lost in a close election to McKee four years ago. She began working at CVS in 1992, rising to become the company’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer. In February of 2018, Buonanno Foulkes was named CEO of Hudson Bay Co., owner of Saks Fifth Avenue. Some two years later she left the company, when the company went private.
Her grandfather, Thomas J. Dodd, was a prosecutor during the Nuremberg Trials and later a senator from Connecticut. Her uncle, Chris Dodd, was a former U.S. senator from Connecticut. As of April 30, Buonanno Foulkes had $3,650,745 in her campaign account.
Guckian, 50, has worked as a development officer for the Rhode Island Foundation, was a vice president at Bank Newport, and an officer with The Washington Trust Company. He is a former chair of the Warwick Sewer Authority, former chairman of the Central Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce, and board member of World Trade Day at Bryant University. As of April 30, he had $76,653 in his campaign account.
Pelino, 72, was an actress and model, at one point owning her own modeling agency and also authoring a cookbook. According to news articles, she appeared in movies and worked as an NFL cheerleader. As of April 30, Pelino had $3,041 in her campaign account.
Two independents have also apparently qualified to run for governor – Ken Block and Jasjit Gotra.
Block, 60, is the founder of the Moderate Party in Rhode Island and ran for governor under that label in 2010. Four years later he ran for governor as Republican. He lost both elections.
He worked for GTECH for six years, opening his own software consulting firms, working with state agencies to identify government waste and abuse, and providing other services.
In November 2020 Block was hired by Donald Trump’s presidential campaign to find evidence of election fraud. He found none, leading to his book Disproven. As of noon today (July 14) Block had collected 1,547 signatures, well beyond the 1,000 needed to run for governor. His campaign finance report showed a zero balance as of the end of March.
The website also says he “built” two companies, Alliance Security and SmartGreen Solar. Alliance. According to Board of Elections campaign finance filings, he had no cash on hand for the filing period ending March 31.
