Candidates for AG: Who’s Ahead in the Race for Donors?
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
In the three-way Democratic primary for Attorney General, one candidate is pulling ahead of the rest in the race to raise the most money.
Joe Fernandez yesterday announced he had raised $102,000 in the second quarter of 2010. Peter Kilmartin raked in $60,000 while Steve Archambault pulled in about $50,000, according to their campaigns.
“These fundraising numbers demonstrate that voters are responding to Joe’s message of ending the culture of special deals and special favors that are holding this state back,” said Fernandez campaign manager Dan Herkert. “As this campaign continues, it is becoming clear to voters that Joe Fernandez is the one candidate for Attorney General with a real record of making government accountable and getting results for regular Rhode Islanders.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTHerkert said Fernandez (pictured above left) had 409 individual donors in the quarter and that overall 99 percent of campaign contributions have come from individuals rather than political action committees.
Neither the Republican candidate, Erik Wallin, nor the Moderate Party’s Chris Little, had finished compiling their campaign finance reports for the quarter. Rob Rainville, an independent candidate, did not respond to a request for information.
Fernandez Has Largest War Chest
Of the three Democrats, Fernandez also had the largest campaign war chest, with $230,000 cash on hand—compared to about $190,000 for Archambault and $135,000 for Kilmartin.
A spokesman for Archambault (pictured right) said his campaign had enough to compete with the other two candidates. “We know that we will have the resources required to get our message across to primary voters,” said Rob Horowitz. “But at the end of the day, this is not a race to decide who is best at dialing for dollars; it’s a race to decide who is best to serve Rhode Island as our next Attorney General.”
“As the only Democratic candidate who is a prosecutor, Steve Archambault is best qualified to get the job done and keep our streets safe and stand up for financially-squeezed Rhode Island consumers,” Horowitz added.
Kilmartin Seeking Matching Funds
Unlike the other two candidates, the Kilmartin campaign will seek $264,300 in matching funds from the state of Rhode Island for the general election. As a result, Kilmartin (pictured left) is barred from spending more than $440,500 in the primary - all of which must be money he raised on his own, according to Brett Broesder, a spokesman. In the general election, he will only be able to spend the matching funds he is receiving from the state.
“We are thrilled with the show of grassroots support for Peter Kilmartin, which includes his receiving the Democratic State Committee endorsement last week,” Broesder said. “We’re looking forward to continuing our conversation with Rhode Islanders, highlighting that as Attorney General Peter Kilmartin will take on mortgage fraud, crack down on identity theft and be a watchdog over health insurance companies and utility companies who are unfairly jacking up rates on consumers.”
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