Which AG Candidate Has the Most Out of State Money?
Friday, August 06, 2010
Democratic candidate for Attorney General Joe Fernandez has benefited from an wide network of donors from Singapore to New York to push him over the top in the race to win the most money.
Fernandez raised a total of $101,152 in the second quarter, according to his campaign finance report. A little more than 55 percent of that money came from individual donors who live outside of Rhode Island. They range from law firm associates and classmates to family members as far away as Singapore. The states where he has the most support include Washington, with 51 donors, California, with 32, and New York, with 65.
His two primary opponents yesterday criticized Fernandez for relying on out-of-state money. “Joe Fernandez and the Fernandez campaign have consistently pointed to their fundraising as a strong sign of the in-state support they have,” said Rob Horowitz, a spokesman for Democratic candidate Steve Archambault. “It appears that there’s less there than meets the eyes.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBut since the campaign started, campaign manager Dan Herkert said Fernandez had received money 655 in-state donors—more than out-of-state. We’re quite confident of our fundraising,” Herkert said.
As a general rule, voters care less about how much money is in state versus out of state, according to former Brown University political science professor Darrell West, who is now a vice president at the Brookings Institution. West said care more about what individuals or industries are giving the money.
Kilmartin: Fernandez Defended 'Worst White Collar Criminals'
The campaign for Peter Kilmartin took issue with the donations Fernandez received from attorneys at Solomon, Zauderer, Ellenhorn, Frischer & Sharp in New York City, where he worked during the mid-1990s.
“It’s no surprise that the majority of money Joe Fernandez raised in the second quarter came from out of state,” said Brett Broesder, a spokesman. “Before moving to the Ocean State, Joe Fernandez was a highly paid New York City corporate lawyer who worked at a firm that represented the worst white collar criminals at Wall Street banks and the accounting company Arthur Anderson, which shut down after destroying evidence during the investigation of ENRON. Fernandez's firm was later accused of hiding evidence to protect Bank of America from charges that it lied to the government about its investments.”
“The choice is clear in the race for Rhode Island Attorney General – Peter Kilmartin, who worked in law enforcement for 24 years protecting hard-working Rhode Islanders on Main Street or Joe Fernandez, a former corporate lawyer in New York City who worked for a firm that defended Wall Street fat cats,” Broesder added.
"This is exactly the kind of response we’ve come to expect from career politicians – distorting the truth to score cheap political points and mask their own history of being a part of the status quo that has failed time and again to take on the corruption and cronyism holding our state back," Herkert responded.
"Joe Fernandez hasn’t spent his life going along to get along in our state’s political system," Herkert said. "He’s taken on the corruption and cronyism plaguing our state and gotten results in the fight to make government accountable to regular Rhode Islanders. That’s the real choice in this election, one between maintaining the status quo or finally ending the culture of special deals and special favors that are holding Rhode Island back."
Most Candidates Took Little Out of State Money
Most of the other candidates received little in out-of-state money. Of the $42,295 that Archambault raised just 7.8 percent came from outside of Rhode Island, while out-of-state donations accounted for 9.9 percent of the $67,760 that Kilmartin collected in the second quarter.
Republican Erik Wallin had the least of any: with just 2.66 percent of his second quarter donors coming from outside the Ocean State. A spokeswoman said it was up to voters to decide if out-of-state money was a problem. Wallin also raised the least of any candidate—not counting independent Rob Rainville who has not filed his report—with $18,810 raised.
In a statement his campaign noted that Wallin will not have to exhaust his resources on a primary battle, unlike the three Democrats running for the office. As more individuals hear his message they increasingly are reaching into their pockets and supporting the campaign financially as well as in many other ways,” his campaign said in a statement.
Besides Fernandez, Moderate Party candidate Chris Little raised more out-of-state money than any other in the race, drawing 33.07 percent of his support from beyond state borders, helping him to rake in $32,281 in the second quarter.
“For the most part, my out-of-state contributors are classmates from high school, college and law school who are people I’ve retained friendships with through the years,” Little told GoLocalProv. “About one and a half months ago we started to ramp up the fund-raising and we’re getting good support, consistent with running a very good campaign,” he added.
