The abrupt closure of a crucial Rhode Island bridge in 2023 has cast a long shadow in the small state, driving traffic delays and fueling fury ever since. It is also providing a dramatic backdrop for a close and heated primary showdown between Gov. Dan Mc Kee, a Democrat seeking a second term, and Helena Foulkes, a former CVS executive who has sharply criticized the governor’s handling of the bridge saga. Mr. Mc Kee, 75, a former mayor and lieutenant governor, first assumed his post in 2021 when his predecessor, Gina Raimondo, was tapped by President Joseph R.

Biden Jr. to be the U.S. commerce secretary. He says that when an engineer revealed critical structural failures that could have caused the Washington Bridge in Providence to collapse, he took decisive action, putting public safety above his political future. Ms. Foulkes, 62, who led the retail division at CVS, has alleged that the governor hid information about the bridge’s closure from the public, protected allies who should have been immediately fired once the structure’s risks were revealed, and added to costs and delays with politically driven decisions. The governor has forcefully denied those claims and sought to turn voters’ attention to Ms. Foulkes’s leadership at CVS, asserting that she failed to do enough to stop the pharmacy chain from fueling the opioid addiction crisis.

CVS agreed to pay $5 billion in 2022 to settle lawsuits over its role. The race between the two Democrats is a replay of the primary in 2022, a year before the bridge was closed, when Mr. Mc Kee barely eked out a win against Ms. Foulkes. This time, though, Mr. Mc Kee is facing not just anger about the bridge, but a tide of national anti-incumbent sentiment.

A poll conducted this month by Emerson College showed Ms. Foulkes leading in their rematch by 15 points.