Follow the money: Who are the leading fundraisers among RI governor candidates, and who is giving?

PROVIDENCE — Who has the most money to break through the din in the crowded contest for governor of Rhode Island?

According to campaign reports filed Monday for Jan. 1 to March 31, that distinction belongs to political newcomer Helena Buonnano Foulkes.

The former CVS executive, who has not yet started her TV ad campaign, banked a total of $1,309,032 during the first three months of the year and ended the quarter with $1,502,549 in her campaign account.

That included a $400,000 personal loan, on top of the $100,000 she previously deposited in her campaign account, and $911,014 in contributions. A little more than a third of those, $355,150, came from people with Rhode Island addresses.

Among her backers: lawyer Patrick Rogers, the chief of staff to former Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who paid the tab for a fundraising event.

Some of the prominent donors who gave the maximum $1,000 to Foulkes' campaign include Boeing CEO David Calhoun, Hollywood Reporter Executive Editor Lacey Rose, former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, Home Depot CEO Ted Becker, former Hasbro CEO Alan Hassenfeld, Bank of America Vice Chair Anne Finucane and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Foulkes' expenses reflect her rolodex of former Raimondo political aides and consultants, and they included the New York-based Global Strategy Group, which does public opinion research.

The company, which Foulkes has paid $135,560 since the start of the year, says it "measure(s) voter attitudes to drive campaign strategy and succeed at the ballot box."

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Gov. Dan McKee, the Democratic incumbent, is a runner-up in the money contest, but unlike Foulkes, he built up his $1,093,218 war chest without personal loans.

He raised $427,064 during the quarter and spent $177,933, including $25,600 from political action committees affiliated with organized labor and others pressing their agendas at the State House.

His PAC donors included several arms of the Laborers International Union of North America that each gave him $1,000; the National Education Association of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island State Association of Firefighters.

The Democratic Governors Association also gave him $1,000. But the majority of his donors, close to 77%, had Rhode Island addresses.

On Wednesday, the McKee campaign made pubic, as it has before, the names of the prominent State House lobbyists - and public works contractors - who hosted fundraisers for him during the first three onths of the year. (Those held in January were virtual, according to his campaign manager Brexton Isaccs.)

The governor's fundraising hosts included former House Speaker William Murphy, one of the busiest lobbyists in the state . His State House client listncludes the Bally's Corp., the owner of R.I.'s two state-controlled casinos; the R.I Health Center Associatoin; CARE New England; Amica Insurance; the R.I. Hospitality Association, Deloitte, Walmart, PHRMA and Anheuser- -Busch, among others.

Other hosting fundraisers for the governor during the quarter included: 1/12/22 Jon Savage, George Zainyeh; 1/28/22 Roshan Patel, Tom Hogan; 2/16/22 Joe Walsh, Gayle Wolf; 3/2/22 Bob Goldberg, Tom DiPrete; 3/8/22 Bill Kitsilis; 3/15/22 Peter Baptista, Zach Darrow, Nick Hemond; 3/16/22Tom Santilli, Mike Martone; 3/23/22 Anthony Rosciti, Anthony Izzo;

His March 24 fundraiser at the Crowne Plaza had an even longer list of hosts, that included even more lobbyists pushing for - or against - State House action of one sort or another. Among them, Derek Silva, who lobbies for Providence Fire Fighters IAFF Local 799, and Wally Gernt, whose clients include the Thomas C. Slater Compassion Center.

The other candidates for governor

*The $500,020 that Republican Ashley Kalus's husband, plastic surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Weinzweig, funneled into his wife's campaign for governor of her new home state gave her an apparent fundraising edge over some of the Democrats in the race in the first quarter.

She only raised $13,584, however, with more than half of that ($7,650) coming from donors in her former home state of Illinois. But the loans from her husband pushed her fundraising total to $513,605.

Only $2,133 came from donors in Rhode Island.

Candidates are allowed to give themselves big chunks of money. It appears Kalus may have run afoul of Rhode Island campaign-finance law.

The Journal asked the state's campaign finance administrator, Richard Thornton, what the rules say about a candidate's spouse exceeding the $1,000 cap on individual contributions to a campaign.

Citing Rhode Island law, Thornton said: "No person, other than the candidate to his or her own campaign" can donate more to $1,000 to a candidate, within a calendar year. "Nor shall any candidate ... accept [contributions] that, in the aggregate, exceed $1,000."

The law also says: "A loan shall be considered a contribution of money until it is repaid."

Her campaign issued a statement that said: "It was an error. The report is getting amended."

It is unclear what the actual error was: the loan from her husband, or a misidentification of the source. When asked if Kalus has requested guidance on what to do next, Thornton told The Journal: "All communications of an investigatory nature are confidential."

At this point, Kalus does not have enough money in her account to repay her husband. She lists no personal sources of 2021 income on her financial disclosure filing with the Ethics Commission, and she identifies her self as the "manager" of Sirena Key Cottage LLC, at her reported Newport home address.

Kalus had $410,173 left in her account after spending $103,432 during the first quarter. That included the $39,000 she paid Public Opinion in Alexandria, Virginia, for an early poll on her then-unannounced candidacy.

Between the time she filed her initial "statement of organization" under her married name, Ashley Weinzweig, she changed her name on her campaign filings to Ashley Kalus, and her address from the house she purchased in Newport a year ago to her office on Bald Hill Road in Warwick.

Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea had $895,951 left in her account at the end of the quarter, after raising $378,328 and spending $230,778. (She also noted 21,204 in unpaid bills.)

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Her donors included a handful of PACs that, in some cases, donated to other candidates as well, including the AMICA/RI PAC, which gave $500 each to McKee, Foulkes and Gorbea.

More than half of Gorbea's donations, 56%, came from people with addresses in Rhode Island, but she turned to donors living in her native Puerto Rico for another $40,876.

When asked if Gorbea flew to Puerto Rico for a fundraising event as she did earlier, spokeswoman Molly O'Brien said "she did not." The money came from "working the phones and online donations."

Asked who hosted fundraisers for Gorbean, and when, O'Brien reported: "1/27/22 Partridge, Snow, and Hahn hosted via zoom' 2/22/22 Lorne Adrain hosted in person meet and greet; 2/23/22 Latino Victory Fund hosted via zoom; 2/24/22 Lorne Adrain hosted in person meet and greet; 3/1/22 Friends of Nellie Gorbea campaign event."

Gorbea's expenses included the $48,049 she paid Lake Research Partners, the consulting firm that issued a polling memo last week that said Gorbea's own polling showed her in "first place."

Former Secretary of State Matt Brown had $78,989 left in his account after raising $108,819 and spending $61,494. He also cited $6,460 in unpaid bills.

His donations ranged from $2.50 to the maximum $1,000, with roughly 17% coming from people with addresses in Rhode Island.

Second-time candidate Luis Daniel Muñoz had $1,959 in his campaign account after raising $844 and spending $2,241 during the quarter.

Lieutenant governor

Incumbent Sabina Matos had $316,395 at the end of March after raising $37,469 in the quarter.

Her Democratic rival, Rep. Deb Ruggiero, had $83,302 after raising $13,975 and loaning her campaign $15,000.

A third Democrat, state Sen. Cynthia Mendes, had $76,741 left in her account after raising $72,586 and spending $35,235. (She also noted $13,747 in "accounts payable.")

Republican Paul Pence, running a second time for the job, had $576 left after raising $96, loaning his campaign $450 and spending $84.

Treasurer

Former Central Falls Mayor James Diossa had $155,788 in the bank after raising $85,500.

The Democrat doesn’t have an announced opponent yet in either the primary or general election.

Secretary of State

East Providence State Rep. Gregg Amore, a Democrat, had $139,292 after raising $33,800.

Republican Pat Cortellessa has told the Board of Elections he will not accept donations of more that $100 this year or spend more than $1,000.

Attorney general

Attorney General Peter Neronha, a Democrat, had $299,272 after raising $53,015 and spending $6,982 during the quarter.

His Republican challenger, Charles Calenda, had $26,686 in his campaign account, after raising $5,735 and spending $4,763.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI governor race first quarter fundraising totals