Democratic candidates for governor face off in final televised debate before primary

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — The latest Rhode Island gubernatorial debate once again featured Gov. Dan McKee defending his actions in office.

McKee faced questions on the response to Monday’s flooding, the Tidewater Landing soccer stadium deal, and the ILO school contract investigation.

Democratic challengers Matt Brown, Helena Foulkes, and Nellie Gorbea shared the stage at Rhode Island College for WPRI-TV’s debate Tuesday night, a week before the primary.

Another Democratic candidate on the ballot, Dr. Luis Daniel Muñoz, did not meet the station’s criteria to take part, which he has protested.

McKee refused to answer whether his administration has received a subpoena as part of the federal investigation into the ILO deal.

He did say, on whether he has received a subpoena, “The answer is no.”

McKee again defended the 2021 contract, awarded to a new consulting company with ties to people he knows.

“We were in a state of emergency like we’ve never seen before,” McKee said.

“We followed the procurement process,” he added.

Brown, following his pointed questioning of McKee at the NBC 10 debate last week, said, “I do think he owes it to the people of the state if he’s indicted if he’ll resign.”

When asked what evidence he has that McKee could be indicted when there’s been no reporting that he is the target of the probe, Brown replied that the FBI is “interested in rooting out corruption at the top, the people in power.”

Asked about highway flooding Monday that left some drivers stuck for hours, McKee said “Everybody’s safe. That’s the most important thing in any form of crisis” and “My feeling is it was handled well.”

Foulkes is among those criticizing McKee.

She said, “We didn’t have a plan,” that there was “very poor communication,” and McKee waited too long to speak publicly while people in cars “suffered.”

“I blame him for the response,” Foulkes said.

Gorbea said “climate change is real” and that “this administration has not done anything to really take care of that.”

“This is about a failure of leadership in dealing with climate change issues,” Gorbea claimed.

Brown repeated a previous pledge that he would fire Rhode Island Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti.

“We saw the reason he needs to go yesterday,” Brown said, claiming the administration does not take climate change seriously.

Bonuses of $3,000 given as part of new state worker contracts were also a source of criticism of McKee.

“I think this governor was not honest about them and flip-flopped endlessly,” Foulkes said.

Gorbea said, “There was no rhyme or reason.”

McKee argued the deals were, “Fair to the taxpayers and fair to the people doing the work.”

McKee also defended the reworked Tidewater Landing deal in Pawtucket that shifts money away from the housing portion of the project to the soccer stadium, in the face of rising construction costs.

“I happen to know how to get this done. My opponents are going to walk away from Pawtucket,” McKee said.

Gorbea said, “Pawtucket deserves better. Our state deserves better.”

She added that the state needs to move away from “shiny object” projects.

“If it’s such a great deal, you wouldn’t be hiding all the information,” Foulkes said.

And Brown called it a “scandal,” asking if McKee had shared with Pawtucket leaders a report showing the stadium would not pay for itself.

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McKee wasn’t the only candidate that had to answer for a controversy.

Gorbea, Rhode Island’s secretary of state, said she “was outraged” about mistakes in the past week on early voting machines, but maintains the problems were with the state’s vendor and Board of Elections, not her office.

Foulkes, however, pointed the finger at Gorbea, saying, “This is not OK from the person who is the chief elections officer.”

Foulkes, when she was a top executive at CVS, donated $500 to Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell.

Asked about the donation, Foulkes said, “I do not like Mitch McConnell either” and said “I made a mistake.”

Brown said, “There’s no excuse for donating to Mitch McConnell.”

Each candidate said they would vote for allowing legalized cannabis dispensaries in their hometown, though Foulkes added that she thinks the state needs to look at the long-term health effects of marijuana.

Foulkes knew the most answers to a series of “pop quiz” questions, like on pension funding and median home prices.

On what’s holding back Rhode Island’s economy, Foulkes said, “We’re overwhelmed with bureaucracy and red tape,” hurting small businesses.

Gorbea answere: “It’s the fact that we don’t have an economy that’s more equitable and just” and later added that McKee is holding the state back.

Brown said, “People don’t have enough money to get by” as he pitched his plan to raise the minimum wage to $19 an hour.

McKee said, “The number one thing, and we’re working on it, is J-O-B-S. Jobs.”