It’s officially an election year in Rhode Island, but most of the candidates running for the state’s major offices have been actively raising money for months (or years).

One measuring stick is how much each candidate is starting with in 2026, so here’s a look at what the individuals running in competitive races (governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and Providence mayor) have raised.

As we do every quarter, we also have a look at the number of “Death by Chocolate” cake slices they could buy from Gregg’s ($11.99 on DoorDash) if they wanted to put their money to good use.

Candidates are identified from most to least cash on hand.

🍰 Governor
As we begin the election year, there are three serious people running for governor (Democrats Dan McKee and Helena Foulkes and Republican Aaron Guckian), three fringe candidates (Democrat Gregory Stevens and Republicans Elaine Pelino and Robert Raimondo), and House Speaker Joe Shekarchi, a Democrat who raises money like a gubernatorial candidate but seems more likely to buy every registered Democrat a slice of cake than he is to make a decision on seeking higher office.

Foulkes starts the year with twice as much cash on hand as McKee, the incumbent governor who raised less in the fourth quarter of 2025 than he did in the third quarter. The former CVS executive also hasn’t spent a dollar of her considerable personal wealth. Still, McKee’s campaign maintains it has enough money to be competitive, and he could benefit from outside spending from unions in the summer. Guckian is never going to raise the kind of money the Democrats have raised, but he’ll get a boost from state matching funds.

Joe Shekarchi (D)
Cash on hand: $4,379,219
Slices of Death by Chocolate that buys: 365,239

Helena Foulkes (D)
Cash on hand: $2,821,061
Slices of Death by Chocolate that buys: 235,284

Dan McKee (D)
Cash on hand: $1,110,487
Slices of Death by Chocolate that buys: 92,617

Aaron Guckian (R)
Cash on hand: $43,455
Slices of Death by Chocolate that buys: 3,624

🍰 Lieutenant Governor
Three Democrats are already running (incumbent Sabina Matos, Providence Councilwoman Sue Anderbois, and Cindy Coyne), and Newport Councilman Xay Khamsyvoravong is expected to enter the race in the next six weeks. Republican John Loughlin is also running.

On the Democratic side, Khamsyvoravong is going to have the most money, but this starts the year as a wide-open race. Matos benefits from being the incumbent, but she still has considerable baggage after her 2023 congressional campaign.

Xay Khamsyvoravong (D)
Cash on hand: $158,906
Slices of Death by Chocolate that buys: 13,253

Cindy Coyne (D)
Cash on hand: $101,662
Slices of Death by Chocolate that buys: 8,478

Sabina Matos (D)
Cash on hand: $68,129
Slices of Death by Chocolate that buys: 5,682

Sue Anderbois (D)
Cash on hand: $66,214
Slices of Death by Chocolate that buys: 5,522

John Loughlin (R)
Cash on hand: 17,328
Slices of Death by Chocolate that buys: 1,445

🍰 Attorney General
There are four Democrats (state Representatives Joe Solomon Jr. and Jason Knight, Kim Ahern and Keith Hoffmann) vying to succeed term-limited Attorney General Peter Neronha. They’re all going to have enough money to run a competitive primary race, although Ahern and Hoffmann are likely to end up with the financial advantage based on the amount they raised so quickly in 2025.

Joe Solomon Jr. (D)
Cash on hand: $419,758
Slices of Death by Chocolate that buys: 35,009

Keith Hoffmann (D)
Cash on hand: $322,568
Slices of Death by Chocolate that buys: 26,903

Kim Ahern (D)
Cash on hand: $265,094.29
Slices of Death by Chocolate that buys: 22,109

Jason Knight (D)
Cash on hand: $205,730
Slices of Death by Chocolate that buys: 17,158

🍰 Providence Mayor
This is a Democratic primary between incumbent Mayor Brett Smiley and state Representative David Morales, but Democrat Michael English and perennial candidate Allen Waters (independent) both say they’re running, too.

Smiley, the incumbent, has a massive financial advantage, but Morales is running an energetic campaign that isn’t going to fade away.

Mayor Brett Smiley (D)
Cash on hand: $1,263,100
Slices of Death by Chocolate that buys: 105,346

David Morales (D)
Cash on hand: $89,088
Slices of Death by Chocolate that buys: 7,430

🍰 Other bites

🍴 Attorney General candidate Joe Solomon Jr. has opened a political action committee (JS PAC) using what was left from his late father’s campaign account (Joe Solomon Sr. was a former mayor of Warwick).

🍴 Former governor Gina Raimondo made two local donations in 2025: $2,000 each to Mayor Smiley and attorney general candidate Kim Ahern. Raimondo still has more than $575,000 in her campaign account.

🍴 Five candidates loaned at least $75,000 to their campaigns in the final quarter of the year: state Senator Ryan Pearson ($150,000), Solomon ($100,000), Providence City Council candidate Michael Solomon ($100,000), Clay Johnson ($100,000), and Keith Hoffmann ($75,000). Johnson has run for Chariho School Committee and state representative in the past.