Candidate · November 3, 2026
Helena Buonanno Foulkes
On the ballot for Governor · Rhode Island
- issues with public statements
- 9
§1On the ballot
Why this matters: This is exactly how the candidate appears on your ballot, from the state's official candidate list.
| Office | Governor · Rhode Island1 |
|---|---|
| Party on the ballot | Democrat1 |
| Status | Open seat — no incumbent is running for this seat. |
| Also on the ballot |
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§2Who they are
Why this matters: Background and experience help you judge how someone might do the job. These come from public records and the candidate's own materials.
Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.
Helena Buonanno Foulkes is a lifelong Rhode Islander who worked at CVS for 25 years and became president of its retail division.2 As president of CVS Pharmacy, she removed tobacco products from its stores, and her campaign website says she worked to get customers the lowest possible prescription drug prices.2 She earned a bachelor's degree in economics and an MBA from Harvard University, and she was chief executive of Hudson's Bay Company from 2018 to 2020.3 She ran for governor in 2022, and since then she has worked with the mayor of Central Falls to improve the city's public schools and has served as a board member and volunteer at Rhode Island nonprofits working on homelessness and domestic violence.2
Why they say they're running
Her campaign website says she is running to make life better for every Rhode Islander, and that as governor she would push back against what it calls the Trump administration's attacks on the state, create good-paying jobs and make living in Rhode Island more affordable.2
Websites and accounts
- Campaign websitehelenafoulkes.com2,
3 - Facebookfacebook.com/helena4RI2
- Instagraminstagram.com/helenabfoulkes2
- X (Twitter)x.com/HelenaBFoulkes2
§3What they've said on the issues
Why this matters: These are positions the candidate has stated publicly — on their campaign website or in public statements — summarized in plain words with a link to where they said it. Issues they haven't spoken about publicly are left out.
Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.
Each issue has its own range of views. A position is marked on that range only when the candidate's own statement clearly matches one option; there is no overall left–right score.
Taxes and Budget
Her housing plan proposes a millionaire's tax, an added 3% income tax bracket on incomes of $1 million and above, to pay for a revolving loan fund meant to build more than 20,000 homes and apartments.4
- Add or raise taxes on the highest incomes (for example, a tax on income over $1 million)
- Keep current rates
- Cut rates or move to a single flat rate
- Phase out the state income tax
Housing
Her housing plan calls for more state oversight of large institutional buyers of homes and for exploring penalties and fees to discourage Wall Street speculation on Rhode Island homes.4
Economy, Jobs and Trade
Energy and Climate
Her energy plan says Rhode Island should require heavy energy users, such as large data centers, to pay their own way so that other customers are not left with the bill.5
- Encourage new data centers with tax breaks and faster approvals
- Require data centers to pay the full cost of the power plants and lines they need
- Pause or limit new data centers
Her energy plan says she would push back against the Trump administration's efforts to shut down wind energy in Rhode Island and that the state should invest more, not less, in wind and solar power.5
Her energy plan opposes rolling back the state's Renewable Energy Standard and calls for a long-term energy and emissions plan that the state sticks to.5
Family and Social Policy
Her plan for working families proposes a $20 million pilot of a child care fund matched by employers, larger state tax credits for child care, and pre-kindergarten access for every family by the end of her second term.6
State Government
Her health care plan says the state cannot sit idly by as federal cuts threaten Medicaid coverage, and proposes a state-funded navigator program, modeled on the Affordable Care Act's, to help eligible Rhode Islanders keep their coverage, along with further increases in Medicaid payment rates to narrow the gap with Massachusetts and Connecticut.7
Elections and Government Reform
Her ethics plan proposes banning gifts and donations from registered lobbyists to statewide elected officials, state legislators and candidates for those offices from one week before and during each legislative session, and requiring weekly public reports of lobbyists' meetings with legislators during the session.8
§4Money
Why this matters: Campaigns report where their money comes from and how much they have left.
Candidates for governor file campaign-finance reports with the state, not the FEC, so this guide doesn't include their fundraising. Search the state's reports: Campaign finance electronic reporting and tracking system (public site) — Rhode Island Board of Elections.9