Foulkes and Shekarchi lead the pack in summer campaign fundraising
Governor Dan McKee (D)
Cash on hand: $879,207
Slices of cake that buys: 79,710
The governor brought in $206,000 during the second quarter, but spent $75,000 as he began to staff up for his reelection campaign. His team knows it will need to ramp up fundraising for the rest of the year.
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Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos (D)
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Cash on hand: $14,611
Slices of cake that buys: 1,324
Matos had a quiet second quarter as Democratic primary opponents began to line up against her. She also repaid herself $5,000 from previous campaign loans.
Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D)
Cash on hand: $142,496
Slices of cake that buys: 12,919
The secretary of state raised about $42,000 in the second quarter of the year, and he doesn't appear likely to have a serious opponent next year.
Attorney General Peter Neronha (D)
Cash on hand: $119,203
Slices of cake that buys: 10,807
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The attorney general still isn't ruling out a run for governor, but he has not been actively raising money in 2025.
Treasurer James Diossa (D)
Cash on hand: $215,377
Slices of cake that buys: 19,526
It's unlikely that Diossa will have a Democratic primary challenger next year, so he and Secretary of State Amore are already basically raising money for whatever they want to do in 2030.
House Speaker Joe Shekarchi (D)
Cash on hand: $3,858,818
Slices of cake that buys: 349,847
The speaker's campaign fund is so large that he generates more bank interest than Lieutenant Governor Matos has in her entire account.
Senate President Val Lawson (D)
Cash on hand: $205,439
Slices of cake that buys: 18,625
It pays to be No. 1. The new Senate president nearly raised as much in one quarter as she raised for all of 2022, 2023, and 2024 combined.
House Majority Leader Chris Blazejewski (D)
Cash on hand: $360,445
Slices of cake that buys: 32,678
The speaker-in-waiting is in a holding pattern while Shekarchi considers a run for governor. He didn't have much activity in the second quarter, although he did pay himself back for a $4,800 loan he made to his campaign back in 2010.
Senate Majority Leader Frank Ciccone (D)
Cash on hand: $115,286
Slices of cake that buys: 10,452
Ciccone may have avoided a Democratic primary next year by allowing some version of an assault weapons ban to move forward, and he should see his campaign fund swell in the coming months.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley (D)
Cash on hand: $1,003,616
Slices of cake that buys: 90,989
The mayor doesn't yet have an opponent in next year's Democratic primary, but he's going to have a massive financial advantage in the race. State Representative David Morales is considering challenging him from the left.
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Helena Foulkes (D)
Cash on hand: $2,105,532
Slices of cake that buys: 190,891
Foulkes hasn't formally announced her campaign for governor, but she has hired the firm run by Eric Hyers as a consultant in the race. Hyers ran David Cicilline's first two campaigns for Congress, and Gina Raimondo's 2014 race for governor. He also ran Andy Beshear's campaign for governor in Kentucky, and Steve Bullock's
reelection campaign for Montana governor.
This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you'd like to receive it via email Monday through Friday,
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Dan McGowan can be reached at

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