Magaziner leads the pack in fund-raising for 2022 R.I. governor’s race

He also draws criticism for launching a formal finance committee co-chaired by a lobbyist, former IGT chairman Donald R. Sweitzer.

Democratic state treasurer Seth Magaziner addresses the media and his supporters during a press conference announcing his candidacy for Rhode Island governor in front of the Henry J. Winters Elementary School construction project in Pawtucket on Sept. 14.Matthew Healey for The Boston Globe

PROVIDENCE — General Treasurer Seth Magaziner continued to lead the fund-raising pack among Democrats running for governor in 2022, raising $255,000 in the third quarter and ending with $1,580,419 in his campaign account.

Governor Daniel J. McKee raised $154,200 in the quarter, ending with $800,682 in his campaign account, according to records filed with the state Board of Elections.

Secretary of State Nellie M. Gorbea raised $154,000 in the quarter, ending with $749,284 in her campaign account.

Former secretary of state Matt Brown raised $76,600 in the quarter, ending with $58,886 in his campaign account.

In a news release, Brown and state Senator Cynthia Mendes, who is running for lieutenant governor as part of a slate of candidates backed by the Rhode Island Political Cooperative, said they had raised a combined total of $154,047 in the third quarter. “Unlike Governor McKee, former corporate executive Helena Foulkes, Secretary of State Gorbea, and Treasurer Magaziner, they are not taking any corporate PAC, corporate lobbyist, or fossil fuel money,” the release said.

Dr. Luis Daniel Muñoz raised $5,100 in the quarter, ending with $5,600 in his campaign account.

Another Democrat, former CVS executive Helena B. Foulkes, just announced in October that she is entering the race, so she did not have to file a campaign finance report for the quarter ending Sept 30.

No new reports have been posted for Republicans weighing a run for governor, including David A. Darlington and House Minority Leader Blake A. Filippi.

On Monday, Magaziner’s campaign announced the launch of a formal finance committee cochaired by former IGT chairman Donald R. Sweitzer and attorney Victoria M. Almeida, the campaign treasurer.

Senator Samuel W. Bell, a Providence Democrat, tweeted, “Any comment from Magaziner on why he believes it’s ethical to have a lobbyist for a big gambling corporation with significant state business headline his fundraising committee?”

Magaziner’s campaign spokeswoman declined to comment on Bell’s tweet.

Sweitzer served as chairman of IGT, a multinational gambling company, and, before their merger, GTECH. During the 2020 legislative session, he was listed as a $7,500-a-month lobbyist for IGT and its affiliates.

Sweitzer also served as treasurer of the Democratic Governors Association from December 2018 to December 2020. In April 2020, the state Ethics Commission dismissed a complaint alleging former governor Gina M. Raimondo violated the ethics code in negotiating a proposed no-bid, 20-year extension of the lottery contract between the state and IGT. Former state Republican Party chairman Brandon S. Bell had filed the complaint, claiming Raimondo was a business associate of Sweitzer.

Magaziner’s fund-raising committee includes his father, Ira Magaziner, an adviser to former President Bill Clinton; Terrence Murray, former chairman and chief executive of Fleet Bank; Arnold B. “Buff” Chase Jr., founder and managing partner of Providence real estate developer Cornish Associates; and Sarah T. Dowling, an attorney that Raimondo named to chair the Judicial Nominating Commission.