by Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current
September 9, 2026
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed on Wednesday secured the Democratic nomination to pursue a sixth term in office, defeating two long-shot progressive challengers in Rhode Island’s primary.
Reed, 76, secured roughly 76% among Democratic primary voters, according to unofficial results from the Rhode Island Board of Elections. Connor Burbridge, a 31-year-old elder care worker, received 14% of votes. Dr. Luis Daniel Muñoz, a medical school graduate who has worked as a technology consultant, came in third place with 9.8%
There was little doubt Reed, a former U.S. Army paratrooper who was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996, would lose his primary bid. Every public poll of the race showed Rhode Island’s senior senator comfortably ahead of his two opponents with little name recognition.
Reed promoted his experience and results as the top reasons voters should give him another six years on Capitol Hill, emphasizing the federal money he’s brought back to Rhode Island for investments in affordable housing and infrastructure.
But in an election year where progressive insurgencies elsewhere in the country have led to establishment defeats, both of Reed’s opponents saw an opportunity..
Burbridge, a former battalion human resources officer in the Army Reserve, argued the state needed a more confrontational, progressive senator, rather than another establishment Democrat to take on the Trump administration.
Muñoz similarly cast himself as a progressive outsider, arguing his background in healthcare, technology and community organizing had prepared him to take on the federal issues shaping Rhode Islanders’ lives.
Both Democratic challengers criticized Reed’s support for Israel, which the senator defended while blaming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for causing “great harm” to the Middle East ally’s standing.
Neither progressive campaign drew the broad backing from grassroots groups seen in other successful insurgencies like the Democratic Socialists of America, though Burbridge did win endorsements from a handful of current and former elected officials and organizations.
Burbridge conceded the race at 8:18 p.m.
“Let’s be honest: this was never supposed to be an easy race,” Burbridge said in a statement. “I was a political outsider with very little money, very little institutional support, and essentially no political experience. We were up against a 30-year incumbent and an entire political establishment that told Rhode Islanders, in one way or another, that this was not our time.”
Reed will face Republican Ray McKay, who ran unopposed in the GOP primary, and independent Michael Bahry in the Nov. 3 general election.
- 8:29 pmUpdated to include a statement from Connor Burbridge.
Rhode Island Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Rhode Island Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janine L. Weisman for questions: info@rhodeislandcurrent.com.
