He shows he isn't taking voters for granted
By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current
U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) dipped into his massive campaign war chest to unveil a campaign ad during the July 26 opening ceremony of the Olympic summer games in Paris in his bid for a fourth term on Capitol Hill.
Whitehouse’s campaign has committed $100,000 over the next three weeks to air his 30-second “Fighting for Us” spot, which shows the Democratic incumbent meeting with constituents across the Ocean State — or as he puts it “into our nooks and crannies.”
“I love going to the supermarket and having somebody grab me in the aisle and bend my ear on the subject that matters to them,” Whitehouse states in a voiceover. “I bring to Washington a determination to protect Social Security and Medicare, provide affordable healthcare, lower costs, and protect abortion rights.”
The commercial is scheduled to play a total of 110 times on WJAR — Providence’s NBC affiliate broadcasting the summer games — by the time of the closing ceremony on Aug. 11, according to a filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Whitehouse boasts the most cash out of any office seeker in Rhode Island — with a war chest of $3.7 million as of June 30.
Overall, his re-election bid spent $225,000 across the Providence TV market and digital platforms “to capitalize on higher viewership during the Olympics,” campaign coordinator Laura Fusco said in an emailed statement Wednesday.
Whitehouse has Rhode Island’s Olympic viewers all to himself. No other congressional candidate reported any ad purchases as of Wednesday. That’s in stark contrast to last summer’s 12-person primary for Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District, which saw five Democratic candidates and three political action committees collectively spend $1.74 million on 6,000 broadcast advertisements.
But the honor of being the first to hit the airwaves this election cycle actually goes to potential Republican challenger Patricia Morgan, whose campaign paid $25,127 for 447 ad spots on cable TV during the latter half of April when she launched her senatorial bid, according to FCC filings.
“I wanted to make sure people knew that I was in,” said Morgan, who represents West Warwick in the Rhode Island House of Representatives but opted not to seek reelection to run for Whitehouse’s seat in the U.S. Senate.
As of June 30, Morgan reported just over $97,000 cash on hand at the end of the second quarter, including $7,500 she loaned to her own campaign. Her finances came under scrutiny from the Federal Election Commission over irregularities in her campaign filings, which Morgan attributed to software glitch as well as confusion about the difference between state and federal reporting requirements. Her campaign submitted amended returns for the first and second quarters on July 18, which she said resolved the issue.
FEC spokesperson Judith Ingram declined to comment on individual candidates or committees.
Morgan said she is still weighing whether to purchase any new ads heading into the Sept. 10 primary, where she will square off against former Warwick City Administrator Raymond T. McKay.
“I would rather spend it on the real opponent, on the general election, than on the primary,” Morgan said.
McKay ended the quarter with just over $16,000 cash on hand, after raising more than $38,000 and spending roughly $31,000. No spending was made on TV ads.
McKay did not respond to immediate request for comment.
Michael Costa, Whitehouse’s Democratic primary challenger, was not required to file a report with the FEC because he did not raise the $5,000 minimum.
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