Costco board member Foulkes wins Rhode Island governor’s race
Helena Buonanno Foulkes, a Costco board member and former retail chief executive, won the race for Rhode Island governor on Tuesday, headlining a midterm election in which Democrats with business credentials won widely across the country. At least 19 Democrats with M.B.A.s took House seats, and Foulkes carried a governor’s office, giving the party its strongest showing in years for candidates with corporate résumés.
The results suggest a break with a pattern that has often plagued executives seeking office as Democrats or independents — a field that includes hedge-fund founder Tom Steyer and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose 2020 presidential run was fleeting. This week’s blue wave, according to The Wall Street Journal’s analysis, was powered largely by moderates pledging to fix broken systems, a message that plays to the strengths of candidates who have run or worked inside major companies.
Foulkes ran as a pro-business Democrat and leaned on her experience managing large organizations. She is the former chief executive of retailer Hudson’s Bay and spent much of her career as an executive at CVS, the pharmacy chain based in Rhode Island. Her campaign centered on bolstering the state’s economy, expanding affordable housing and improving healthcare.
At CVS, Foulkes helped lead the decision to ban the sale of tobacco products. During the campaign, she also faced criticism for CVS’s role in the opioid crisis.
Her seat on Costco’s board became a talking point in the race. Foulkes confirmed during the campaign that the retailer would build its first store in Rhode Island, in the town of Smithfield. Some of her opponents accused her of using the popular retailer for political gain.
In a debate this fall, Foulkes argued that her experience running companies would translate well to running the state — a pitch the Journal noted was not unlike Donald Trump’s pitch to voters when he entered presidential politics. “The most important job of the governor is attracting great talent, for sure,” she said. “That’s what I’ve learned in my career: I led a giant team at CVS of 200,000 people.” She added, “I always learned I’ve got to shore myself up with people around me who are really excellent at what they do.”
Foulkes had company among business-credentialed winners. In Pennsylvania’s eighth Congressional district, Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti — a Goldman Sachs alum with a Harvard M.B.A. — flipped a Republican-held seat. Former healthcare executive Rebecca Bennett flipped another in New Jersey’s seventh congressional district.
In all, at least 19 Democrats with M.B.A.s won House races on Tuesday, according to the Journal, and that number is likely to rise as more races are called. The result is set to make the next Congress the first in which Democrats hold more business degrees than Republicans.
Some executives have made the leap to office as Democrats before — notably Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont. All three won re-election on Tuesday.
Elissa Sangster, chief executive of the Forté Foundation, which tracks M.B.A.s, said the winning candidates ran on practicality. “These candidates had that very practical approach,” Sangster said. “They’re able to work with a lot of different kinds of people.”
Women played a big role in driving the Democratic M.B.A. wave. In the House alone, the number of female Democrats holding the degree could rise from six to as many as nine once all races are called, according to an analysis by the Leadership Now Project, a business group that has supported moderate Democratic candidates and works to recruit centrist businesspeople to government roles.
Daniella Ballou-Aares, Leadership Now’s chief executive, said the Democratic businesspeople who won did so by emphasizing their ability to get things done. Her organization is already preparing a governing agenda for the next Congress focused on issues like artificial intelligence and affordability.
The victories also pointed to a broadening professional profile among incoming Democratic officeholders. Among the winners were doctors — including South Carolina pediatrician Annie Andrews, who defeated Republican Darline Graham — along with a pastor and a microbiologist.
The bigger test, Ballou-Aares said, will come in how the newly elected Democrats govern. “Democrats have won,” she said. “Now are they going to deliver for the country? That’s what people are asking for.”