R.I. congressional incumbents maintain strong fundraising edge over election challengers

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., is pictured on Thursday, March 14, 2024. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt)

The three members of Rhode Island’s congressional delegation facing reelection this year continue to enjoy significant financial advantages over their challengers, according to second-quarter reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who has represented Rhode Island since 2007, sits atop the biggest pile of cash: $3.7 million as of June 30, according to his second-quarter campaign report, which was due on Monday. That’s after raising more than half a million in donations from individual and political action committees in the quarter spanning April 1 to June 30. Whitehouse also spent just over $500,000 in his reelection campaign in the second quarter.

By contrast, Republican challenger Patricia Morgan reported just over $97,000 cash on hand at the end of the second quarter, including $7,500 she loaned to her own campaign. Morgan, who served two terms in the Rhode Island House of Representatives representing West Warwick before giving up the seat to face off against Whitehouse, has also been plagued by allegations of federal campaign finance violations. The FEC has issued a series of written warnings to Morgan, initially seeking additional information about apparent reporting errors. Its latest letter, sent on June 25, warns that Morgan could face an audit if she fails to remedy the errors. Among the violations listed in the letter are accepting donations over the $3,300 per-person max per election cycle, and illegally transferring money from her state campaign account to her federal one.

Morgan in an interview Tuesday blamed a software glitch as well as confusion about the difference between state and federal reporting requirements as the reason for the alleged violations.

“We’re just going through now and making sure it’s all correct,” she said, adding that the campaign plans to resubmit the complete and corrected reports by the July 30 deadline.

A second Republican, Raymond McKay, ended the quarter with just over $16,000 cash on hand, after raising more than $38,000 and spending roughly $31,000.

Two other candidates, Republican Raymond McKay and Democrat Michael Costa, are also vying for Whitehouse’s seat, according to candidate declaration paperwork submitted to the Rhode Island Department of State Elections Division. A second-quarter financial reports for McKay and Costa were not immediately available. 

Costa was not required to file a report because he did not raise the $5,000 minimum, he said on Tuesday. He plans to start fundraising now, boosting his campaign with his own money, he said.

Meanwhile, Rhode Island’s most freshman representative, Gabe Amo, has a war chest nearly 20 times larger than Republican challenger Allen Waters. Amo, who won the seat to represent Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District in a special election last year, reported nearly $78,000 cash on hand as of June 30, after raising $373,000 and spending $72,000 in his second-quarter reelection campaign. Waters, who ran for the seat last year as a Democrat, finishing with 1.3% of the vote to Amo’s 32.4%, had a little over $4,000 in his campaign account as of June 30. Neither candidate had loaned their campaign any money. 

Democrat Eddy Medrano and Republican Jeffrey Lemire also signaled their intent to run for the 1st Congressional District seat, but may not have turned in enough signatures on their nomination papers to make the ballot, according to the state elections portal. Final campaign nomination signature counts certified by the Secretary of State will be available Thursday. Neither appeared to file a second-quarter financial report, according to FEC listings.

After a high-profile race for Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District that saw millions in out-of-state money pouring in for both Seth Magaziner and Allan Fung’s campaigns, Magaziner’s 2024 reelection bid is decidedly sleepier. The freshman Democrat raised more than $147,000 in the second quarter, ending the quarter with just over $1 million. But his Republican challenger, Steven Corvi, failed to raise or spend more than the $5,000 minimum requiring a quarterly campaign finance report, Corvi said in an interview on Tuesday.

“We would love to be spending more, but we don’t have the fundraising yet,” Corvi said. “Since I am an unknown candidate, no one will give us money.”

Rhode Island’s senior senator, Jack Reed, is not facing reelection this year, but continues to build his reelection fund, raising more than $81,000 in the second quarter. The five-term Democrat reported more than $1.9 million cash on hand as of June 30.

The primary is Sept. 10 and the general election is Nov. 5. 

Members of Congress earn $174,000 a year, with two-year terms for representatives and staggered, six-year terms for senators. 

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