Wealthy Outsider Ramaswamy Ousts a Sitting Governor in a Primary After Outspending Him 3-to-1 on Television
The first governor in eight years to lose his own party's nomination was beaten by a former corporate executive with two senators in the family tree
Ink = the flip (fiction). Red = real Republican · Blue = real Democrat.
PROVIDENCE — A former corporate executive, Ramaswamy, defeated the party's sitting governor in Tuesday's primary, the first such defeat anywhere in the country in eight years, after outspending the incumbent roughly three to one on the airwaves, according to ad-tracking data.
Ramaswamy's campaign was aided by a former Speaker of the House, who stumped for the challenger on the strength of having been college roommates with the challenger's mother, an endorsement pathway The Press's campaign desk had not previously catalogued and has now filed under 'networking.'
The incumbent's undoing was a bridge: his 2023 decision to close a major span after engineers found it could fail, a call he defended as 'safety over politics' and voters graded at 63 percent disapproval. The bridge remains under construction. So, now, does his retirement.
The Press observes that a wealthy outsider buying a nomination from a sitting governor is 'plutocracy' when the other party's outsider does it and 'fresh leadership' when yours does. Ramaswamy's party spent the same week decrying the influence of money in politics, in ads.
At press time the nominee was the heavy favorite in November, the incumbent was a lame duck with a bridge, and the ad-tracking firm had booked its next quarter.
📜 The Receipts
What actually happened: NBC News on Helena Foulkes' defeat of Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee in the Democratic primary, the first sitting governor to lose a primary this cycle and in eight years: the 3-to-1 advertising advantage per AdImpact, her CVS-executive background and senatorial family, Nancy Pelosi's campaigning, and the Washington Bridge closure that sank the incumbent.