One Third of Caprio's Money Is Out of State

One Third of Caprio's Money Is Out of State

Frank Caprio has raised nearly a third of his money from out of state in his run for governor, according to a GoLocalProv review of state campaign finance records—prompting criticism from Lincoln Chafee that the Democratic candidate is trying to “buy the election.”

Since his last run for office, Caprio has raised a total of $2.7 million. Of that amount, nearly $800,000, or about 30 percent, was out of state. Chafee has much less outside of Rhode Island—about $144,000. But in terms of the percent of total donations, he's much closer to Caprio, raising about 21 percent of his total out of state.

“Frank Caprio is calling on his vast network of State House insiders and Washington D.C. special interest groups to tip the election in his favor,” Chafee claimed in a message to supporters this week—tying in his accusation to his broader campaign themes. “Rhode Islanders are tired of the insider deals and political machines that have controlled our state for too long. We need independent leadership. We need to end the cycle of cronyism and corruption that have damaged our economy and resulted in 12 percent unemployment.”

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Caprio: Chafee Benefited from Out of State Money Too

Caprio spokesman Nick Hemond dismissed the criticism. “Out of state contributions come in all the time—and Chafee has raised out of state contributions,” Hemond said. “The vast majority of contributions into the campaign have come from Rhode Islanders,” he added.

Chafee noted that the Democratic Governors Association has flooded Rhode Island airwaves with $200,000 of advertising directed against his candidacy. Hemond said the DGA was an independent organization that the Caprio campaign had no control over. He also noted that in his 2006 Senatorial run, Chafee benefitted from an infusion of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Republican National Committee into the race.

Could Become an ‘Hot Button’

Political experts who spoke with GoLocalProv said that raising money out of state alone is not normally an issue for voters, in the way that taxes, the economy, and war are. “Simply being out of state money in of itself is not a problem, but it can become a problem if a candidate successfully turns it into an … issue,” said Tony Affigne, a political scientist at Providence College. “It could become a hot button depending on what else is going on in the campaign.”

“I can’t image that’s a burning issue for most voters,” agreed Victor Profughi, a retired professor of political science at Rhode Island College.

But, Profughi added, a candidate could use the out-of-state donations as part of a broader argument that his opponent is backed by special interests. “I think if you package that all together that might resonate with voters,” Profughi said.

Affigne said such donations usually are more of an issue in Congressional and Senatorial campaigns. That money can become problematic, he added, if it comes from a problematic source. He offered a hypothetical: if an East Coast, blue-state candidate received money from a Midwestern mining company that could raise eyebrows among voters who might wonder what interests the company has in the race.