Politics
Pelino says she is filing Rhode Island election complaint over Guckian’s private-plane costs
Elaine Pelino, whom Aaron Guckian defeated in last month’s Republican gubernatorial primary, says she is asking state election officials to examine whether his campaign properly disclosed private-plane travel. Guckian’s campaign says it has requested an invoice and will amend its report once the bill is received and paid.
Elaine Pelino, the Republican gubernatorial candidate defeated by Aaron Guckian in last month’s primary, said Tuesday she is filing a campaign-finance complaint with Rhode Island election officials over his campaign’s disclosure of private-plane travel.
Pelino alleged in a Facebook post that Guckian had not reported the travel despite having had time to update his filings. She said she believes the omission was intentional and violates campaign-finance law. Those are Pelino’s allegations; the Board of Elections has not announced a finding of wrongdoing.
The dispute concerns a late-September trip to Florida for a fundraising event that was expected to feature Eric and Lara Trump. Guckian’s campaign acknowledged that private aircraft were used for part of the trip, but the expense did not appear on the campaign’s latest filing, submitted about a week afterward.
Guckian’s campaign said it had not received an invoice from the transportation provider and had requested one. It said the campaign would pay the bill and amend its filing after the invoice arrives. The campaign also provided a statement from Guckian saying he was focused on a debate scheduled for Tuesday evening and on the candidates still in the race.
Pelino raised a separate concern about donors, saying she was worried that Republicans—including seniors on fixed incomes—might not know whether their contributions could ultimately be used to cover the travel expense.
The Board of Elections said campaign-finance investigations are confidential unless the board finds reason to believe a violation occurred. The agency did not comment on the specific complaint.