With 79 days to go until Rhode Island’s Democratic primary, t he two Democratic frontrunners for governor officially filed their declaration of candidacy paperwork less than three hours apart Tuesday afternoon. But only one took questions from reporters.
Gov. Dan McKee spared the fanfare as he officially filed his paperwork for reelection at 12:45 p.m. at the Rhode Island Department of State on West River Street in Providence. He arrived at the office with his Rhode Island State Police escort and uttered little more than pleasantries to staff behind the counter. He asked a brief question about the deadline to provide the 1,000 signatures required to get his name on the ballot.
McKee was 45 minutes behind his original schedule after attending a ribbon cutting for a new union facility in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. He did not take any questions from reporters from three news outlets waiting for him and was onsite for less than 10 minutes.
At around 3:30 p.m., about 15 supporters of McKee’s Democratic rival, Helena Buonanno Foulkes, greeted her arrival with cheers…