New Campaign Finance Reports Underscore McKee’s Big Political Troubles
GoLocalProv Political Team
New Campaign Finance Reports Underscore McKee’s Big Political Troubles
But the recently reported fundraising numbers for the second quarter unveil a growing “ABM” movement — Anyone But McKee.
McKee’s first elected term as governor has been riddled by controversies — the Washington Bridge, high-level staffers forced to resign, a failing healthcare system, the financing of the minor league soccer stadium in Pawtucket, the potential loss of Hasbro, and his continued retention of Rhode Island Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAn incumbent governor should be able to rake in the money. However, McKee was trounced in fundraising both by Speaker Joe Shekarchi and former CVS president Helena Foulkes. Neither Shekarchi nor Foulkes has formally announced.
With McKee’s approval ratings between 19% and 25% in recent credible polling, McKee is one of the lowest-ranked governors in America.
It's a Money Game and McKee is Losing
As Will Rogers said, “Politics has become so expensive that it takes a lot of money even to be defeated.”
McKee’s campaign committee announced that it raised $205,000 in the second quarter and then tried to spin that this was a positive.
And because of his high campaign account expenses, he only netted about $130,000 for the quarter.
His campaign has just $879,207.10 on hand.
“Governor McKee will be re-elected because he has a strong record of fighting for Rhode Islanders and delivering on the issues that matter most,” said McKee’s campaign manager Rob Silverstein.
But here is McKee’s reality
Foulkes, who lost to McKee fewer than 4,000 votes in the Democratic primary in 2022, raised $650,000 for the quarter and has $2,105,532.63.
Much of Foulkes’ fundraising has been with out-of-state mega-rich donors.
One of her big fundraisers was in Washington, DC, hosted by a tobacco heiress, a woman tied to antisemitic statements.
Former Ambassador Elizabeth Bagley hosted a $ 2,000-a-ticket fundraiser scheduled for June 11.
Her 2022 appointment by Joe Biden to serve as the Ambassador to Brazil was almost derailed when it was uncovered that Bagley repeatedly made multiple antisemitic comments.
Bagley's late husband, Smith Bagley, was heir to the R.J. Reynolds tobacco fortune.
A “special guest” at the DC fundraiser was Foulkes’ uncle, former U.S. Senator Chris Dodd. Foulkes, for more than a decade, served on the board of her uncle’s Dodd Center, located at the University of Connecticut.
A series of reports by GoLocal focused on the close ties between Senator Dodd and The Dodd Center with the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma. The Sackler family and the company are considered to have been major drivers of the opioid crisis.
And, Speaker of the House Joe Shekarchi rang the bell as well.
Friends of Joe Shekarchi raised over $460,000 in contributions from April to June.
“I appreciate the tremendous support for my campaign committee as I continue to meet good people throughout Rhode Island,” said Joe Shekarchi.
The Shekarchi campaign account has over $3.8 million in ‘cash on hand’, the highest total of any elected office-holder in the state. An overwhelming majority of the contributions came from Rhode Island-based donors.