Whitehouse Announces Over $1.8 Million Available for Senate Race

Whitehouse Announces Over $1.8 Million Available for Senate Race
Campaign Enters April with an 18-Point Lead, Significant Resources for the Primary

Just days after a recent poll showed former Rhode Island Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse with a commanding 18-point lead in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, his campaign announced today that it will enter the second quarter of this election year with more than $1.8 million cash on hand, including $1.37 million for the primary. The Whitehouse campaign raised over $530,000 in the first three months of 2006.

"We need a Whitehouse in Washington we can count on, and as Sheldon travels across the state, it's clear: Rhode Islanders know that Sheldon Whitehouse has the experience and the ideas to help change this country for the better," said Mark Weiner, Whitehouse campaign national finance chair. "And thanks to the help of thousands of supporters, we're confident that we're on track to have the resources we need to win."

In its quarterly report to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), due on April 15, the campaign expects to show total receipts of more than $2.7 million since the race began, with over half a million dollars in the past three months alone. Whitehouse '06 spent about $288,000 in the first quarter of 2006.

The campaign's strong fundraising pace will help ensure that Whitehouse has the resources he needs to continue what has been an active and aggressive campaign all across Rhode Island, in a Senate race that many local and national political observers have called one of the most competitive in the country. Whitehouse has hosted a series of town hall-style community dinners and meetings at seniors' centers, sharing ideas to lower the cost of health care, get our troops out of Iraq rapidly and responsibly, and reform the disastrous Medicare Part D prescription drug program. Whitehouse has earned the support of both of Rhode Island's Congressmen, Reps. Patrick Kennedy and Jim Langevin, as well as twelve grassroots Democratic city and town committees.

A poll conducted for the campaign at the end of March showed that Whitehouse's hard work is paying off. 49 percent of likely Democratic voters would choose Whitehouse if the primary election were held today; only 31 percent would choose challenger Matt Brown. The survey, by pollsters John Anzalone & Jeff Liszt, showed that 66 percent of voters view Whitehouse favorably, compared with Brown's 48 percent favorable / 32 percent unfavorable rating.

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