Nellie Gorbea, RI’s Secretary of State, has been very interested in the RI Governor’s race recently. The Rhode Island Secretary of State has long-standing ties to Democratic challenger Matt Brown. Gorbea was Deputy Secretary of State under Secretary of State Matthew A. Brown from 2002 through 2006.
Her campaign spokesperson confirmed that the campaign has been in the field polling and did not dispute that the polling was layered with questions about the Democratic primary for Governor.
When asked is the polling constituted a de facto in-kind donation from the Gorbea campaign to the Brown campaign, Jen Burton refused to address the question, but said the campaign was polling for their own internal usage.
For Gorbea, her campaign fund has a reported cash-on-hand of $198,769.04. Presently, she faces no announced Democratic primary opponent nor has a Republican candidate come forward.
In contrast, Brown’s campaign ended the first quarter with just $25,146.43 and his chief Democratic primary opponent Governor Gina Raimondo presently reports $4,333,144.49.
Related Slideshow: 2018 Governor’s Race Playbook - May 21, 2018
The Rhode Island Republican Liberty Caucus, a leading conservative group in the state and “The Conscience of the Republican Party” unanimously endorsed Patricia Morgan for Governor.
“Patricia Morgan is a true conservative with a proven record of fighting against tax increases, exploding government spending and burdensome regulations that are strangling Rhode Islanders. Throughout her career, she has been a conservative champion for limited government and is the only candidate for governor that has consistently fought against tolls, taxpayer PawSox bailouts, and government interference into our constitutional rights,” said RI Republican Liberty Caucus Chair Russ Hryzan.
She also scored points for her follow up on the Convention Center and the performance of the Dunkin' Donut Center.
Losses:
Strong week.
X-Factor: Starting to win conservative endorsements - could spell trouble for Fung if it continues.
Joe Trillo says he wants to create a program where non-violent offenders would be trained in various trades and then work for local small businesses as a key to their rehabilitation. This is his second significant policy announcement in the past two weeks.
“I want to give prisoners a real chance at reforming their lives and having a chance to earn a decent living upon their release,” said Trillo.
He added, “Right now, the state of Rhode Island is basically warehousing prisoners, and all that does is spend and waste money. Today, when prisoners are released, they have no skills, and are dependent on social services, which further burden taxpayers. Sadly, in Rhode Island, the recidivism rate within the first three years of release is over 50%. So, it’s time to do something about it, since no one is currently addressing this serious problem.”
Losses:
Trillo needs to build momentum with endorsements. To date, conservative Republicans have endorsed Morgan.
X-Factor: The second consecutive week with a solid policy initiative, can he keep up the momentum?
Gina Raimondo received good news on the economic front with the monthly job numbers. For the past ten months, the jobs numbers had been bouncing up and down — some months up and some with job loss tied to retail (Benny’s closing) and healthcare hits (Care New England closing Memorial Hospital).
The April numbers showed modest gains and pushed Rhode Island’s employment to a record level.
Losses:
UHIP failure - again. The Raimondo administration missed a critical deadline that had been set by federally appointed special master Deming Sherman.
Sherman while appearing on GoLocal LIVE said a fix was due this past week -- but it came and went. As GoLocal reported:
There is a major fix to be implemented on May 19, and Sherman said that “fix” could be implemented now, but the Department of Human Services employees have not been trained.
“I have made it clear to DHS and Deloitte, as far as I am concerned, this new fix is not going online until unless a, it has been tested and b, people have been trained,” said Sherman.
“We don’t want another disaster like the one we had almost two years ago,” added Sherman referring to the launch of the UHIP system. Sherman is referring to the launch of the UHIP program in the fall of 2016.
X-Factor: Multiple solid weeks regarding the economy. But, continues to show vulnerability by hitting Fung so often.
Seems to be everywhere. He is not just that anti-power plant candidate from Burrillville. See his video from the Haitian Festival Sunday in Providence.
Losses:
Needs to show some fundraising capabilities -- name recognition is too low now to get in the top tier.
Brown kicked off his campaign last Monday with an event with about 75 in attendance -- a modest, but what appeared to be motivated, crowd.
Hit Raimondo with a hard Tweet, "Where was I? Fighting to make the world safer for our children. Where were you? Gutting seniors' pensions, slashing Medicaid, collecting any and every Wall Street donation, bungling UHIP and hurting thousands."
Later in the week met with progressive groups around the State including, "Our Revolution RI" and "Indivisible RI."
Losses:
By Saturday night he was working the crowd at the Lincoln School's annual fundraiser. The exclusive all-girls prep school on Providence's East Side cost in excess of $36,000 a year.
Patricia Morgan criticized her GOP rival Fung, he hit Raimondo again on UHIP, and Raimondo's coordinated effort with the Democratic Governor's Association fired at Fung.
To date, Morgan has been unable to engage Fung head to head.
Losses:
The DGA continues to dredge up the 2014 Cranston Police scandal -- is that really a strong point?
X-Factor: Overall, a quiet week for Fung and he cannot afford quiet weeks with Raimondo building momentum on the economy.
Democratic candidate for governor Spencer Dickinson joined GoLocal LIVE and outlined some of the key issues facing Rhode Island. The former RI legislator said that Rhode Island needs to make it easier to build homes or it will face a major housing shortage.
Dickinson also said he opposes the PawSox funding plan now pending before the RI General Assembly. He said, "no one supports the plan."
He said the under Governor Gina Raimondo both retirees and state employees have been mistreated.
Losses:
Dickinson needs to get out and hit the trail. He is falling behind Roselli who is picking up the pace.
X-Factors: Can he build a coalition of retired teachers and good government activists?
"My team and I have been focused on meeting and listening to people throughout the state, building awareness within different municipalities, and growing a grassroots organization," said Munoz in an email to GoLocalProv.
Losses:
No campaign announcements on his website since January.
X-Factor: Needs to show he has an organization. He is strong on ideas.
Feroce finally formally announced for Governor on Sunday. A small crowd gathered at his Warwick headquarters to kick off the race — that was the good news of the week for Feroce.
Losses:
The bad news continued to pile up. Feroce’s press secretary resigned just a few days before the formal announcement. His mansion in Newport, which he lost in a foreclosure was sold by the bank to a private purchaser for one-third less than what Feroce paid for it in 2014.
He has now scrubbed any reference to Benrus from his campaign bio. The company is now in bankruptcy proceedings.
Feroce paid $6.8 million four years ago and the new buyer paid just $4.4 million.
X-Factor: No sign that he has scheduled any fundraisers.
