Imagine all the 🎂 R.I. politicians could have bought

A slice of Gregg's six-layer Death by Chocolate cake.Gregg's Facebook page

If Republican Ashley Kalus and Democrat Helena Foulkes pooled all the money they spent on their losing campaigns for governor this year, they could have bought a slice of Death by Chocolate cake from Gregg’s for every single active registered voter in Rhode Island.

And those top two spenders would have had plenty of money left over to pay for a healthy tip (or to buy healthier food).

Kalus and Foulkes combined to spend $9.17 million on their campaigns this year, more than half of which came from their own personal bank accounts. If you consider that a slice of Death by Chocolate costs $10.54 on DoorDash, that’s enough to buy 870,266 pieces of cake.

There are currently 722,596 active registered voters in Rhode Island, according to the secretary of state’s office.

New reports filed with the Rhode Island of Board of Elections this week show just how much the candidates who were on the ballot in November spent on their campaigns. (Foulkes isn’t required to file again until Jan. 31 because she lost in the Democratic primary.)

Here’s a look at how much the statewide campaigns spent. *Keep in mind that most of the Democrats also had to pay for competitive primary races, while the Republicans were mostly able to spend toward their general election campaigns.

GOVERNOR

Dan McKee (D)

Amount spent since Jan. 1: $3,433,432.65

Per vote: $16.57

Slices of 🎂 that buys: 325,752

Ashley Kalus (R)

Amount spent since Jan. 1: $4,971,395.74

Per vote: $35.76

Slices of 🎂 that buys: 471,669

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

Sabina Matos (D)

Amount spent since Jan. 1: $514,759.93

Per vote: $2.84

Slices of 🎂 that buys: 48,838

Aaron Guckian (R)

Amount spent since Jan. 1: $313,106.50

Per vote: $2.05

Slices of 🎂 that buys: 29,706

SECRETARY OF STATE

Gregg Amore (D)

Amount spent since Jan. 1: $459,780.19

Per vote: $2.20

Slices of 🎂 that buys: 43,622

Pat Cortellessa (R)

Amount spent since Jan. 1: $3,260.98

Per vote: $.02

Slices of 🎂 that buys: 309

GENERAL TREASURER

James Diossa (D)

Amount spent since Jan. 1: $693,600.39

Per vote: $3.63

Slices of 🎂 that buys: 65,806

James Lathrop (R)

Amount spent since Jan. 1: $52,784.17

Per vote: $.33

Slices of 🎂 that buys: 5,007

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Peter Neronha (D)

Amount spent since Jan. 1: $512,115.02

Per vote: $2.36

Slices of 🎂 that buys: 48,587

Charles Calenda (R)

Amount spent since Jan. 1: $ 58,031.17

Per vote: $.43

Slices of 🎂 that buys: 5,505

This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, data about the coronavirus in the state, and more. If you’d like to receive it via e-mail Monday through Friday, you can sign up here.