Gov. Dan McKee presented his case Tuesday for retaining Rhode Island’s top job, arguing that he stabilized the state after taking over during the depths of the pandemic and is poised to build on momentum to move things forward.
“My message to Rhode Island is simple,” McKee, a 70-year-old Democrat, said during a campaign event formally announcing his candidacy at Igus, a German-owned manufacturing company in East Providence. “I’m running for governor to help create more opportunity for working people and their families, to support our seniors, veterans, small businesses, and keep the economic engine humming and take advantage of the blue economy and beyond, and the green economy as well.”
According to McKee, the state “was taking on water” when he succeeded Gina Raimondo as governor last March. “Our economy was struggling, we were at the peak of the pandemic, we had the lowest vaccination rates in the country.”
In the time since, he said, his administration has moved things in the right direction by “helping businesses stay open, kept our kids safely in school, we got families back to work and our economy running. Together, we focused on solving complicated issues, because we can’t get Rhode Island moving again unless government gets down to work.”
McKee faces a September primary against four fellow Democrats: activist Matt Brown; former CVS Health executive Helena Foulkes; Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea; and activist Luis Daniel Munoz.
The rival Democrats have criticized McKee as indecisive while pointing to controversies involving his first chief of staff, Tony Silva, who resigned in August amid questions about a Cumberland development, and the process leading to a state contract for the ILO Group
McKee cited a recent New York Times finding that Rhode Island has the highest rate of vaccination in the country. While different indicators offer different readings on the state’s economic recovery, McKee has repeatedly pointed to the brighter report.
Previously a second-term lieutenant governor, McKee took over the governor’s office as federal pandemic aid continued to pour into Rhode Island, helping the state budget to achieve its best outlook in decades.
During his campaign event, McKee — a former Cumberland mayor — was joined by a group of local officials, including Johnston Mayor Joseph Polisena, North Providence Mayor Charles Lombardi, Woonsocket Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt, Lincoln Town Administrator Phil Gould, and Bristol Town Administrator Steven Contente.
East Providence Mayor Roberto “Bob” DaSilva introduced McKee as someone who relates to small businesses and aided them with a grant program.
“In the middle of the pandemic, Governor McKee went and met with these people at their doorsteps to learn more about what kind of help they needed and how we could provide better support and resources for them” DaSilva said. “Governor McKee took the time to really connect with these small mom and pop shops.”
McKee retraced his Cumberland roots and invoked the importance of family, citing the lessons he learned along the way as informing his work as governor.
Igus was chosen as the site for his campaign launch, he said, because the U.S. headquarters for the German firm is a Rhode Island success story, having added more than 100 jobs during the pandemic. The company manufactures plastic parts and assemblies.
During a Q&A with reporters, McKee declined to cite a specific fundraising goal for his campaign or to cite a policy goal that he alone would pursue among the various candidates for governor.
“I’m not into comparing,” McKee said. “And we’ll take care of the campaign and everything that it entails in terms of comparing notes. All I can tell you is that we have put out a strong platform. Our budgets describe priorities. The budget is one that we can afford. It doesn’t have any new taxes … I don’t compare. I just go out and do the work.”
Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis@ripr.org. Follow him on Twitter @IanDon and sign up for email delivery of his weekly RI politics newsletter.
