September 21, 2006 Providence Journal "4th District winners raised most money"

Unions and community organizations form Democrat Steve D'Amico's support base, and private business interests are in Republican Steven S. Howitt's corner.

BY MICHAEL P. McKINNEY
Journal Staff Writer


On the surface, cash was kingmaker in Tuesday's 4th Bristol District state representative primary.

Democratic winner Steve D'Amico, of Seekonk, received $18,295 and spent $11,344.78, putting him ahead of the other three Democrats, according to the most recent campaign filings. Republican winner Steven S. Howitt, of Seekonk, who began fundraising well before anyone in the race, received $13,074 during the latest campaign finance period, bringing his total to $28,590.47. He spent $6,142.35 of that during the most recent period.

The two will face each other in the Nov. 7 election.

A closer look at finance reports, for the period ending Sept. 1, finds more fundamental differences among candidates. Some candidates' campaign committees were established later than others, so higher money totals in some cases should be taken with a grain of salt.

But the reports also shed light on where the two party nominees may get financial support, and draw at least some of their bedrock voters, on the road to November.

When D'Amico spoke to a crowd of jubilant supporters at Tort's Restaurant in Seekonk Tuesday night, among those he thanked were unions and organizations that got the vote out in the district that takes in Seekonk, Rehoboth, three Swansea precincts and one Norton precinct.

His campaign filing shows he received $100 from the Carpenters Local Union 535 political action committee and $300 from the Carpenters Union Local 1305 political action committee. He also received in-kind contributions from two organizations. The Fall River-based Coalition for Social Justice used $1,351.95 for voter outreach/phone banking as well as staff salaries and travel.

And the Mass Alliance, a coalition of 22 organizations, endorsed D'Amico -- a longtime organizer on neighborhood issues in cities as well as Seekonk -- among a slate of candidates statewide and used $555.75 for campaign consulting and travel expenses on his behalf. The alliance, on its Web site, lists everything from civil rights to education, to environmental protection, reproductive rights and workers rights, as a range of priorities.

But D'Amico also had several contributors that fall outside the union/advocacy picture. Among other donors, there were two $100-donations by Joseph Delude, the Seekonk schools assistant superintendent, and money from D'Amico family members, but also $500 from a Brookline, Mass., investment adviser. There was Vincent Augustine II, owner of New York Flooring in Providence, and $500 from the vice president of Omni National Bank in Seekonk.

Howitt's campaign finances drew from, among others, $100 from real estate developer Keith Dulgarian ; $500 from Boston literary agency founding partner Esmond V. Harmsworth; $200 from Johnston, R.I., building contractor Frank Cassisi. Other contributors were Rehoboth storage company owner Ernest Dupuis; insurance agent/owner Paul Damiano, of Cranston, R.I. Restaurant supply company owner David Friedman; Seekonk auto-shop owner Karlene Germane; a Dallas information technology consultant; a Los Angeles consultant; and retirees in New York City, Oakland, Calif., and Telluride, Colo.

Democrat Nicholas Bernier, who finished second in the primary, received a total of $13,877 from Dec. 1, 2005 to Sept. 1, took in $100 each from Fall River teachers Mary Lenaghan and Nancy Martin-Bernier, $100 from Fall River principal Marie Woollam, $45 from Berkley schools para-professional Linda Martin, donations from several local retirees, $60 from New England Technical Institute professor Lisa Reed. Bernier also loaned $4,200 to his campaign, the filing shows.

Democrat John Whelan, who finished third, received a total of $13,679 during the reporting period from March 31 to Sept. 1, spending $10,135.74 of it. Most of his contributors have Seekonk addresses. Frank Cassarella, a dentist, gave $500. Chiropractor Michael Gross gave $200. Chris Gasbarro, who lives in Barrington and owns Seekonk Liquors, contributed $500. (Gasbarro also gave that amount to Howitt's campaign). Donald Howard, a Bedford, Mass., resident and a dean at UMass-Dartmouth, gave Whelan's campaign $500.

Robert Marquis, who finished fourth among Democrats, received $1,550 in his campaign finance period, which covered July 1 to Sept. 1. Among contributions was $250 from David Edson, an engineer with Prism Engineer Inc., a company that has done work on a multimillion-dollar desalinization plant that Marquis, the Swansea Water District superintendent, has received voter approval for as a solution to the town's water problems. John Devillars, a strategist with Blue Wave Strategies, which also lists the desalinization project on its Web site, contributed $200.

Marquis' campaign also received $200 from John Lund, a lawyer who lives in Swansea and works for Borden Light Marina in Fall River, and $500 from Swansea builder Dennis Leonardo.

On the Republican side, Howitt's opponent, Brian D. Langevin, had not filed a finance report as of yesterday, according to the secretary of the commonwealth Web site.