Finance reports show candidate spending
WOONSOCKET – Candidates were due to provide their final financial reports for the 2018 election cycle to the state Board of Elections this week, and those for Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt show that she spent more than $41,000 on campaign expenses since the beginning of the year – almost certainly a record for a city mayor.
After beginning the calendar year with $53,895 on hand, Baldelli-Hunt spent about $2,600 through the first quarter, but after a fundraising push her coffers swelled to a peak of $57,304 ahead of the primary against challenger Albert G. Brien.
In the weeks ahead, Baldelli-Hunt continued to deplete campaign funds, spending the warchest down to $19,315 by the time the election was over, according to the last report, which was filed on Dec. 3, a day be- fore it was due.
The mayor spent a considerable amount of money on food for campaign-related events and advertising in traditional media, including radio and newspapers – among them The Call and The Valley Breeze. But the heftiest sums were spent on direct mail advertising with an East Greenwich company, Checkmate — $11,862 — and statistical analysis with political pollster Fleming & Associates of Cumberland — $3,000. She also spent a combined $8,504 with Regine Printing of Providence, also for campaign-related advertising.
A former city finance director and state lawmaker, Brien has yet to file a final campaign finance report – which means it’s overdue. Nevertheless, it’s plain from the reports he has filed thus far that he was running his campaign on a shoestring compared
to Baldelli-Hunt.
His last report, filed on Oct. 29, indicates that he had total cash of $3,514 and liabilities of $3,760. The report says he began the 20-day period covered in the report with $714 on hand and ended it with $685.
Reached for comment about the financial disclosures, Baldelli-Hunt said she spent the amount of money she felt was necessary to make sure voters understood
the differences between the two candidates.
“I will say that I think it was important for me to get the message out and allow the residents to understand the different between the two candidates and enable them to make a clear comparison between Albert G. Brien and Mayor Baldelli-Hunt,” the mayor said.
The BOE required candidates to file seven campaign finance reports from Jan 1. to Dec. 4. The documents contain the names, addresses, and sums of all who donate to campaigns, as well as
similar details about where the money is spent.
After an unexpectedly close call in the primary, Baldelli-Hunt defeated Brien by a margin of 57.741.9 percent of the vote, or 5,390-3,910. Although fewer people voted in the primary, Brien’s share in the runoff was exactly what it was in the general election – 41.9 percent, while Baldelli-Hunt took 50.3 percent. A third contender who had already dropped out, Albert G. Beauparlant, also claimed 7.9 percent of the vote.
Baldelli-Hunt official-
ly began her third term on Tuesday, when she – along with members of the City Council and the School Committee – were sworn in at the Stadium Theatre by Senate President Dominick Ruggerio. In her inaugural address, the mayor said that one of her top priorities for the next two years will be to bring to fruition the Northern Rhode Island Higher Education Center, a job-training partnership involving RI Commerce Corp. and some of the region’s biggest employers, including Fidelity Investments, Amica Insur- ance and CVS Health.
She also aims to make progress on redeveloping Cass Park as a multi-component athletic complex, including a new football field for Woonsocket High School’s Villa Novans, and start construction of the reconfiguration of the Worrall Street/Monument Square area to better accommodate pedestrian and motor vehicle traffic associated with the thriving Stadium Theatre.