Helena Foulkes ran one of the priciest primary campaigns in RI history. How much per vote?
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Helena Buonanno Foulkes spent at least $4.2 million in her unsuccessful campaign for the governor's office, new filings with the state Board of Elections show.
Foulkes, a former CVS executive, overcame a large early deficit in the polls to finish a close second behind Gov. Dan McKee in the Democratic primary, aided in part by a late campaign ad blitz.
The new filings, which cover all transactions through Monday, show Foulkes put $1.4 million of her own money into the race starting late last year.
In the hard-fought five-way Democratic primary, McKee took 33% of the vote, Foulkes 30%, Nellie Gorbea 26%, Matt Brown 8% and Luis Daniel Muñoz 3%.
For more on RI elections: McKee declares victory in Democratic primary race for governor, after seesaw election night
The $4.2 million spending total makes Foulkes 2022 gubernatorial run one of the most expensive unsuccessful primary campaigns in Rhode Island history. Foulkes received 33,931 votes, so the spending works out to $124 per vote.
McKee spent $2.75 million, or $74 per vote.
Gorbea spent $1.96 million, or $66 per vote.
Brown spent $653,796 since the start of last year, or around $72 per vote.
Munoz spent $18,130 since the start of last year, or around $5 per vote.
Ashley Kalus, the Republican nominee, spent $3.4 million since entering the race this year despite not having a competitive primary.
Most of it has come from her own wealth. She has loaned her campaign $3.7 million.
More on Helena Foulkes: How Helena Foulkes hopes to go from corporate CVS office to Rhode Island governor
The individual spending totals do not include money that was spent by outside groups to help candidates in the race, something McKee in particular benefited from in the Democratic primary.
With around a month to go before the November general election, Kalus has $415,000 in her campaign account to $42,000 for McKee.
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Helena Foulkes spent at least $4.2 million on campaign for RI governor
