Liberal vs. Conservative, In-State vs. Out of State. Who has the Cash?

Liberal vs. Conservative, In-State vs. Out of State. Who has the Cash?

A GoLocalProv review of state campaign finance records shows that a variety of groups—based on political leanings and locations—were major players in the battle to win over the hearts and minds of Rhode Island voters.

The GoLocalProv analysis focused on those groups or private citizens that made independent expenditures on behalf of a candidate or a campaign—rather than directly donating to that candidate. This kind of political spending has the fewest restrictions—including no limits on the amounts—leaving the door wide open to virtually anyone who wants to influence the election one way or another.

A review of the reports filed for 2010 shows just how strong spending among liberal groups was compared with conservatives—and how significant out of state money really was. (See the below chart for exact breakdowns.)

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• Liberals vs. conservatives. It’s not even close—liberal or Democratic-learning individuals and groups out-spent conservatives nearly 3 to 1. In dollar amounts, that comes out to about $1.4 million versus $515,000.

• Fiscal vs. social conservatives. Campaign finance records show that social conservatives in Rhode Island viewed this as an important election for their causes. The state chapter of the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes gay marriage, spent nearly $12,000 in support of Republican gubernatorial candidate John Robitaille, even though he himself did not campaign on that issue. The Rhode Island Right to Life PAC spent less, about $3,000—but spread out its payments in 10 separate installments. Most of that money went to support General Assembly candidates who shared its views or to defeat those that didn’t. While fiscal conservatives did spend more ($24,828), social conservatives spent at a comparable level—totaling $15,011.43.

• Unions—strong, but not dominant. Unions or union-affiliated groups gave almost exclusively to Democratic candidates—the sole exception obviously being independent gubernatorial candidate Lincoln Chafee. While they were a significant factor in boosting the amount of money spent on behalf of liberal candidates—unions ultimately accounted for roughly a third of the money, or $400,000. Other non-union groups were a major factor as well, such as the Committee for Justice & Fairness which gave $105,000 to Democratic Attorney General candidate Peter Kilmartin. Another was Ocean State Action, which dumped close to $200,000 into the election. (Ocean State Action is a coalition that includes labor unions, but other non-union groups are members as well.)

• Most money out of state, but most groups in state. Most of the independent expenditures were made by groups from outside of Rhode Island—totaling nearly $1.3 million, leaving about $679,000 from Rhode Island. However, the vast majority of the out-of-state money came from just three groups: the Democratic Governors Association, the Republican Governors Association, and the Committee for Justice and Fairness. In Rhode Island, 20 groups or individuals made independent expenditures.

The future of such unlimited, seemingly rule-free spending is unclear. Prior to 2010, it was hardly a factor in Rhode Island, but that all changed in the wake of the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United, which determined that corporations could spend unlimited amounts of money. Private citizens and unions also are not bounding by spending limits—as long as they spend it directly instead of donating to a candidate. Common Cause Rhode Island, a local good government group, has said that overturning the Supreme Court decision is impractical, but the group says it will push for legislation to tighten reporting requirements.