New Newport Mayor Receives 80% of Campaign Monies From Group Buying Up Newport
GoLocalProv News Team
New Newport Mayor Receives 80% of Campaign Monies From Group Buying Up Newport
In Holder's most recent Rhode Island campaign finance filing, his report shows that he received 80% of his campaign funds from “billionaire” Nicholas Schorsch, his wife, and two close associates.
Schorsch and his family have gobbled up locally-owned Newport businesses in recent years.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTOf the $10,000 Holder reported in his December 2 post-election campaign finance report, $8,000 was Schorsch connected.
Schorsch, Michael Weil and their wives each gave Holder $2,000. Schorsch and Weil were partners in the embattled American Realty Capital, later known as AR Capital. That company was successfully sued for fraud and fined by the SEC. Schorsch and Weil also serve on the board of the Audrain Automobile Museum together.
Schorsch is the businessman who was tied to health and environmental issues in Philadelphia, then moved on to New York where he built a major empire in real estate, but that came crumbling down when one of his companies was found to have falsely reported earnings to investors, and now he is in Newport, and buying up restaurants, breweries, and even a magazine.
Holder "Business" Relationship
When reached by phone on Wednesday, Holder said much of his relationship with Schorsch is tied to business.
“Most of my connection with Audrain or Schorsch is through my professional....through hospitality restaurants, businesses. It's not really a political connection that I have with them,” said Holder in an interview with GoLocal.
"So you'll see a lot of my money is from people that are either in restaurants, hotels, that's natural, because I am really the only person on the council with that background. My first run back in 2020 was, you know, a voice for that [industry]," he added.
“There is nothing illegal about what he [Schorsch] is doing," said Holder.
"[The City Council] really doesn't have a say in the matter of what is, you know, what is purchased, or built for that matter. Sure. We do have a connection with local licenses and transfers of them," said Holder.
But Schorsch also has a contract with the City of Newport through the dizzying number of interrelated companies that he and his son-in-law Brendan O'Donnell have created.
When asked about the perception that Schorsch may be trying to buy influence with the new mayor, Holder said, “You know, they don't control [me]. Who wants to give me money as much as, you know, I can control it, but again, it's there in that the business that I'm in.”
“So he wanted to support me. If anyone has a question [about Schorsch’s influence] they can look at how I vote on certain things and how I have discussions on certain topics. But again there's nothing, if there was a question on whether it was a legal or illegal situation of what they're doing then that would be a different story,” Holder added.
Outgoing Mayor
For a time, Schorsch was also a significant donor to the outgoing Mayor Xaykham "Xay" Rexford Khamsyvoravong. When GoLocal interviewed him for story in May, the Mayor was very complimentary of Schorsch, and said he appreciated his financial support.
When Xay was asked about Schorsch’s game plan as being a major donor, the Mayor said, “The reality of running these campaigns is it takes the resources to effectively communicate with voters, and I think that and members of our community like Nick understand the necessity of the resources so candidates can afford to communicate.”
“It is clear he is engaged on the political front of our community, and I have never received an ask from him other than an offer to help support community initiatives,” said the Mayor.
In April, one of Schorsch's Newport corporations won an important contract with the City of Newport.
Schorsch's firm announced in a national press release, "1899, LLC (now doing business as The Heritage Restaurant Group) is pleased to announce that at tonight's Newport City Council meeting, 1899 was awarded the concessions contract for the 2024 summer season at Easton's Beach. 1899 is a robust, multifaceted restaurant and hospitality company currently overseeing and supporting three brick-and-mortar restaurants in the City of Newport, a fleet of mobile food trucks and mobile food carts, and a state-of-the-art mobile food kitchen."
Then in July, the Mayor wrote in an email to GoLocal, “I noted that your piece regarding Audrain's donations is forthcoming and wanted to flag some facts that aren't yet on your radar because my latest campaign finance report has not yet been filed.”
“This past quarter, the Audrain organization became a significant vendor to the City of Newport after winning a competitive bid for beach concessions. Because of their increased involvement with the City as a significant vendor, I conducted a review of prior campaign contributions I'd received from individuals associated with Audrain, and donated those funds to community non-profits,” said the Mayor.
“I identified contributions from 2023 totaling $2,500 and donated those funds to the following community organizations, which will be reflected on my Q2 campaign finance report as "Donation of contributions received in November 2023 from individuals employed by Bellevue Capital, Newport Craft or Metropolitan Wealth Management."
According to the Mayor, he is making the following donations:
$1,000 to the Martin Luther King Center
$500 to Newport Pride
$500 to Friends of Newport Skate Park
$500 to the Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation
The Schorsch wealth is now a significant factor in Rhode Island Democratic political circles.
Holder and the Future
"Yep, that's something I'm looking at doing. I haven't done that yet so I got my final see what I have what my account looks like. If you look back to my previous campaign donation I really don't touch my account at all, I haven't touched this as my first ran so most of that money has been in there for a couple of years, said Holder.
“I’m not trying to stockpile my finances so that means if I know I don't need it then I will gladly donate it,” said Holder.
Holder is not the politician in Newport and Rhode Island that Schorsch and his family have made major donations to.
In July, GoLocal published an extensive report on how, in just a few years, Schorsch has ingratiated himself with top Rhode Island politicians.
Schorsch has now become a major political donor in the state.
In less than four years, he and his close family members have pumped more than $100,000 into the campaign accounts of top candidates — all Democrats.
According to campaign finance reports, Schorsch and his immediate family have poured tens of thousands into the coffers of the campaign accounts of now-U.S. Congressman Seth Magaziner.
Schorsch, his wife Shelley, their children and their spouses have donated via state campaign donations, federal donations, and independent expenditures for a total of $32,600 to Magaziner.
The list of donors includes Schorsch’s son-in-law, Brendan O’Donnell — who is also a business partner with Schorsch in the failed SPAC as well as in many of the companies Schorsh has founded in Rhode Island.
Of the $32,600 to Magaziner, $12,500 was donated by Schorsch to the pro-Magaziner independent expenditure called Bright Future Rhode Island.
GoLocal asked the Treasurer of Bright Future Rhode Island, political veteran Paul Tencher, about the criteria for the fund. He said it was primarily a union PAC.
When asked if Bright Future Rhode Island was aware of Schorsch’s previous OSHA fines, environmental issues, and SEC enforcement actions against Schorsch and his companies, Tencher said repeatedly, “We disclosed all our donors; we were transparent.” He refused to comment on Schorsch’s record in business.
GoLocal asked Magaziner if he had concerns about Schorsch's business record, and the Congressman did not respond.
Foulkes, Schorsch and CVS
Another significant beneficiary of Schorsch family donations is former CVS President and gubernatorial candidate Helena Foulkes. She is the recipient of $6,000 from the Schorschs.
Foulkes has been a big player in retail in America, and Schorsch’s Wall Street company — American Realty Capital Properties, which he was forced to resign from due to accounting issues, lawsuits, and SEC enforcement action — was a major real estate player.
According to SEC filings by Schorsch companies at the time in which Foulkes was a senior officer of CVS, it had tens of millions of dollars in revenue generated by leasing properties to CVS.
Foulkes repeatedly refused to answer questions about her relationship with the Schorsch family.
After Foulkes’ tenure at CVS, she became CEO of Hudson’s Bay Company, a Canadian-based retailer that owned major American retailers like Saks 5th Avenue and Neiman Marcus. And, Foulkes, after receiving a massive payoff to step down at Hudson’s, joined the board of Home Depot and today serves on the board of COSTCO.