Democrats across the country are zeroed in on a handful of dynamic gubernatorial candidates hoping to make history in three states currently governed by Republicans. In Florida, Georgia, and Maryland, Andrew Gillum, Stacey Abrams, and Ben Jealous are running unapologetically progressive campaigns that could result in each candidate becoming the first African-American to govern each state. The Democratic Party and its allies, meanwhile, are pumping much-needed resources into Rhode Island in an effort prop up an unpopular incumbent governor facing an insurgent challenge in a blue state. Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo is working to fend off a progressive, albeit underfunded, primary challenge from the left. Matt Brown, a former Rhode Island secretary of state, is running a grassroots campaign against Raimondo, who he describes as “the most extreme corporatist Democrat in the country.” The Democratic Governors Association has pumped in $1 million to support Raimondo, money that won’t be available for Georgia, Florida, or Maryland. EMILY’s List, which helps elect pro-choice women, jumped in as well, spending $345,000 on pre-primary mailers for the incumbent. Although Raimondo presents herself as pro-choice, she was criticized by reproductive rights advocates for passing what amounted to restrictions on abortion access during her first term in office and is listed as “mixed-choice” by NARAL Pro-Choice America. A July survey found Raimondo with a 40 percent job approval rating among the general public and 58 percent among Democrats. That dropped to 29 percent among independents, who are legally allowed to vote in Wednesday’s primary. Raimondo, a former venture capitalist, has raised nearly $7.8 million for her re-election, raking in much of her fundraising from the same corporate players responsible for the state’s fiscal problems. The claim of “most extreme corporatist” may sound like hyperbole, but as state treasurer, Raimondo touched off a scandal by pushing through pension reform legislation that handed a billion dollars of state worker money over to hedge funds with links to the conservative movement, which harvested eye-popping fees. Brown would have to overcome steep odds, but he maintains that the race is closer than public polls show. And the Raimondo campaign’s decision to go negative in the days leading up to the September 12 primary — from a TV ad accusing her opponent of “money laundering” to attacks centered on the nuclear nonproliferation group he co-founded — indicate the race is indeed tightening. One mailer, funded by a pro-Raimondo Super PAC, showed an image of a nuclear explosion and read “Matt Brown Nuked His Own Nonprofit.” She’s also taking it seriously enough to have gone out and acquired an endorsement from civil rights icon John Lewis, a congressperson from Georgia. But when Lewis later learned Raimondo was running against Brown, whom he called a “very, very good friend,” he said publicly that he regretted the endorsement.



Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, center, speaks with Lisa McGovern, left, and Betty Toye at the Pilgrim Senior Center in Warwick, R.I. on Aug. 2, 2018. Photo: Michelle R. Smith/AP



Despite her fundraising prowess, Raimondo is so unpopular she could lose the general election in the solidly blue state. However, former state Rep. Joe Trillo, who was President Donald Trump’s state campaign chairman, is running as an independent and could act as a spoiler, helping Raimondo’s re-election chances. Recent polls have her deadlocked with Republican candidate Allan Fung, who she narrowly defeated in 2014. That year, the Raimondo campaign spent about $6.3 million in a three-way race in which she won 41 percent of the vote. The same July poll found Brown 15 points behind the likely GOP challenger, but 45 percent of voters still hadn’t heard of him, meaning he could quickly gain ground by winning the nomination. Raimondo’s head-to-head polling calls into question the conventional argument that centrist or pro-corporate candidates deserve support because they are more electable. “She’s taken millions in campaign contributions from Wall Street, fossil fuel industry, tobacco industry, lobbyists, corporations, tax breaks, and benefits from the state,” Brown said in an interview. “And she has, I think, raised a total of $7 million dollars now for this race and yet, as you point out, still a large majority of Rhode Islanders are looking for a different candidate with a different vision.” Throughout her political career, Raimondo has also received thousands of dollars from the family that owns Purdue Pharma, a company widely blamed for fueling the opioid epidemic. Brown’s campaign has sworn off corporate political action committee money, relying instead on individual contributions. The campaign boasts hundreds of volunteers that knock on doors and hold phone-banking sessions. In the first two months of the campaign, he said, they held over 70 events all across the state, “in people’s living rooms, talking to their friends and neighbors.” As for his policies, he’s running on “Medicare for All,” the creation of a public bank, tuition-free college, undoing Raimondo’s cuts to Medicaid, and a “Green New Deal.”