Dan McKee

Daniel J. McKee (born June 16, 1951) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 76th governor of Rhode Island since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he also served as Rhode Island's 69th lieutenant governor from 2015 to 2021.

Dan McKee
McKee in 2022
76th Governor of Rhode Island
Incumbent
Assumed office March 2, 2021
Lieutenant	Sabina Matos
Preceded by	Gina Raimondo
69th Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island
In office January 6, 2015 – March 2, 2021
Governor	Gina Raimondo
Preceded by	Elizabeth Roberts
Succeeded by	Sabina Matos
Mayor of Cumberland
In office January 7, 2007 – January 6, 2015
Preceded by	David Iwuc
Succeeded by	William Murray
In office January 2001 – January 2005
Preceded by	Frank Gaschen
Succeeded by	David Iwuc
Member of the Cumberland Town Council
In office 1992–1998
Personal details
Born	Daniel J. McKee (1951-06-16) June 16, 1951 (age 74) Cumberland, Rhode Island, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Susan McGill
Children	2
Education	Assumption University (BA) Harvard University (MPA)
Website	Government website

Born in Cumberland, Rhode Island, McKee received his undergraduate degree from Assumption College and received his master's degree from the Harvard Kennedy School. He served on the Cumberland town council from 1992 to 1998 and as mayor of Cumberland twice, from 2000 to 2004 and from 2006 until 2014.^[1] McKee was elected lieutenant governor in 2014 and reelected in 2018. When Governor Gina Raimondo resigned upon being confirmed as United States Secretary of Commerce in 2021, McKee ascended to the governorship.^[2] He was elected to a full term in 2022.

Early life and education

After graduating from Cumberland High School, McKee received a Bachelor of Arts in education and political science from Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1973. He earned a Master of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School in 2005.^[3]

Early career

McKee was an officer of McKee Brothers, a heating, air conditioning, and home heating oil delivery business his grandfather founded.^[4] He also ran a health and fitness business for more than 30 years.^[4]

During his time on the Cumberland, Rhode Island Town Council (1992–1998), McKee was also a basketball coach.^{[citation needed]}

McKee served six terms as Cumberland's mayor.^[5]

McKee has been a member of the board of directors of the Boys and Girls Club of Cumberland-Lincoln for over 25 years, serving as past president of the executive board and chair of the endowment committee.^{[citation needed]}

Lieutenant governor of Rhode Island

In 2013, McKee announced his candidacy for Rhode island lieutenant governor, defeating Secretary of State of Rhode Island Ralph Mollis and State Representative Frank Ferri in the Democratic primary.^[6] In the general election, he defeated Republican Catherine Terry Taylor, a legislative aide and speechwriter for U.S. Senators John Chafee and Lincoln Chafee,^[7] with 54.3% of the vote. He was reelected in 2018.^[8]

On January 7, 2021, President-elect Joe Biden selected then-Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo as Secretary of Commerce. Since McKee was next in line of succession, he became governor once Raimondo was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 2, 2021.^[9]

In February 2021, McKee began to form a COVID-19 advisory board.^[10] He had criticized the Raimondo administration over a slow COVID-19 vaccine rollout.^[11]

Governor of Rhode Island

McKee with Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos in 2023

McKee was sworn in as the 76th governor of Rhode Island on March 2, 2021.^[12]

In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Rhode Island, McKee said his main priority was to advance COVID-19 vaccine rollout and contain the outbreak.^[13] By July 4, Rhode Island had fully vaccinated over 633,000 people, 70% of its eligible adult population.^[14] It was the fifth state to reach that milestone.^[14] Also in July, McKee terminated the state mask mandate, but extended the COVID-19 emergency declaration to August 6, citing the prevalence of the highly transmissible Delta variant.^[15] On February 8, 2022, McKee announced that Rhode Island would lift mask mandates as the infection rate fell.^{[citation needed]}

In September 2021, McKee signed legislation that reclassified simple possession of 10 grams or less of certain controlled substances^[which?] as a misdemeanor rather than a felony. He signed the legislation at Project Weber/RENEW's office.^[16]

On February 22, 2022, McKee announced that he was running for reelection to a full four-year term.^[17] He won the September 13 Democratic primary, defeating four challengers in a close race. He defeated Republican nominee Ashley Kalus in the general election.^[18]

As governor, McKee's approval rating has continuously dropped, and he is now one of the nation's least popular governors.^[19]

McKee supports gun control and has said he would support an "assault weapons" ban.^[20]

Electoral history

Mayor of Cumberland

2000 Cumberland mayoral election^[21][22]

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dan McKee	4,390	61.48
	Democratic	Francis Gaschen	2,750	38.52
Total votes			7,140	100
General election
	Democratic	Dan McKee	11,625	100.00
Total votes			11,625	100

2002 Cumberland mayoral election^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dan McKee (incumbent)	9,131	81.94
	Independent	Julian Pytka	2,012	18.06
Total votes			11,143	100

2004 Cumberland mayoral election^[24]

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David Iwuc	2,666	54.98
	Democratic	Dan McKee (incumbent)	2,183	45.02
Total votes			4,849	100

2006 Cumberland mayoral election^[25][26]

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dan McKee	4,331	62.33
	Democratic	David Iwuc (incumbent)	2,666	37.67
Total votes			6,997	100
General election
	Democratic	Dan McKee	10,612	100.00
Total votes			10,612	100

2008 Cumberland mayoral election^[27][28]

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dan McKee (incumbent)	3,871	64.40
	Democratic	David Iwuc	2,140	35.60
Total votes			6,011	100
General election
	Democratic	Dan McKee (incumbent)	12,650	100.00
Total votes			12,650	100

2010 Cumberland mayoral election^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dan McKee (incumbent)	8,091	63.95
	Independent	David Iwuc	4,562	36.05
Total votes			12,653	100

2012 Cumberland mayoral election^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dan McKee (incumbent)	12,667	96.55
	Write-in		452	3.45
Total votes			13,119	100

Lieutenant governor

2014 Rhode Island lieutenant gubernatorial election^[31][32]

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dan McKee	48,634	43.47
	Democratic	Ralph Mollis	40,208	35.94
	Democratic	Frank Ferri	23,029	20.59
Total votes			111,871	100
General election
	Democratic	Dan McKee	169,078	54.29
	Republican	Catherine Terry Taylor	105,305	33.81
	Moderate	William H. Gilbert	25,951	8.33
	Libertarian	Tony Jones	10,221	3.28
	Write-in		906	0.29
Total votes			311,461	100

2018 Rhode Island lieutenant gubernatorial election^[33][34]

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dan McKee (incumbent)	57,983	51.09
	Democratic	Aaron Regunberg	55,517	48.91
Total votes			133,500	100
General election
	Democratic	Dan McKee (incumbent)	226,528	61.87
	Republican	Paul Pence	106,505	29.09
	Moderate	Joel Hellmann	11,332	3.10
	Independent	Jonathan J. Riccitelli	9,866	2.70
	Independent	Ross K. McCurdy	9,408	2.57
	Write-in		2,513	0.69
Total votes			366,152	100

Governor

2022 Rhode Island gubernatorial election

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dan McKee (incumbent)	37,288	32.8
	Democratic	Helena Foulkes	33,931	29.9
	Democratic	Nellie Gorbea	29,811	26.2
	Democratic	Matt Brown	9,021	7.9
	Democratic	Luis Daniel Muñoz	3,547	3.1
Total votes			113,598	100
General election
	Democratic	Dan McKee (incumbent)	207,166	57.9
	Republican	Ashley Kalus	139,001	38.9
	Independent	Zachary Hurwitz	4,512	1.3
	Independent	Paul Rianna	3,123	0.9
	Libertarian	Elijah Gizzarelli	2,811	0.8
	Write-in		1,057	0.3
Total votes			357,670	100