01-05-2025
What can campaign fundraising reveal about next year's race for governor in R.I.?
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Cake finisher Nicole Morales places a frosted 6-layer 'Death by Chocolate' cake into a large bowl to be coated with chocolate chips at at Gregg's Restaurant & Pub, in East Providence.
Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
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Governor Dan McKee (D)
Cash on hand: $748,565
Slices of cake that buys: 67,866
For some reason, McKee's campaign website still lists $1,000 as the top donation when the maximum annual donation has increased to $2,000. Still, he raised $257,000 in the first quarter.
Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos (D)
Cash on hand: $24,718
Slices of cake that buys: 2,241
Matos maintains that she is running for reelection, but she raised just $13,000 in the first quarter.
Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D)
Cash on hand: $109,839
Slices of cake that buys: 9,958
The secretary of state brought in $2,800 during the first three months of the year, but he is unlikely to face a serious challenge when he runs for reelection next year.
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Attorney General Peter Neronha (D)
Cash on hand: $122,668
Slices of cake that buys: 11,121
Neronha is term-limited, but he continues to maintain a high profile as he leads the state in multiple lawsuits against the Trump administration and could still run for a different office next year. He raised just $9,600 in the first quarter.
Treasurer James Diossa (D)
Cash on hand: $177,744
Slices of cake that buys: 16,114
Diossa raised nearly $72,000 in the first quarter.
House Speaker Joe Shekarchi (D)
Cash on hand: $3,434,108
Slices of cake that buys: 311,342
The speaker's campaign fund generated more in bank interest than Matos, Amore, and Neronha raised during the first three months of the year. Keep in mind that he also has $428,000 in his Rhode Island Good Government PAC.
Senate President Val Lawson (D)
Cash on hand: $96,372
Slices of cake that buys: 8,737
The newly elected Senate president is going to see a flood of new donations over the next few months.
House Majority Leader Chris Blazejewski (D)
Cash on hand: $357,773
Slices of cake that buys: 32,436
The favorite to be speaker if Shekarchi runs for governor, Blazejewski brought in $83,000 in the first quarter.
Senate Majority Leader Frank Ciccone (D)
Cash on hand: $76,762
Slices of cake that buys: 6,959
The new majority leader reports that he raised more than $20,000 in the first quarter in aggregate donations, which means each donation is less than $200. For donations under $200, he isn't required to disclose the names of contributors.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley (D)
Cash on hand: $850,290
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Slices of cake that buys:77,088
Mayor Smiley raised more than $173,000 in the first quarter of the year.
Helena Foulkes (D)
Cash on hand: $1,567,451
Slices of cake that buys: 142,108
Foulkes raised twice as much as Governor McKee in the first three months of the year.
This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you'd like to receive it via email Monday through Friday,
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Dan McGowan can be reached at
