That’s according to New Harbor Group’s biennial survey of how much all the candidates for General Assembly raised and spent in their most recent campaigns (2010):

Historically, the leadership of both chambers raises and spends the most money, and that proved to be the case again in 2010. House Speaker Gordon Fox (D-Providence) raised $142,000, and spent $117,000 last year. Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed (D-Newport) raised $111,000, and spent $131,000.

The average winner in either chamber spent significantly less than the leaders, however. In the Senate that number was $25,064, while in the House the figure was $17,308.

But even those figures are high in a surprising number of races. For instance, in the House, 25 members spent less than $10,000 to get elected, including five newcomers. And these weren’t easy races either – 18 of the 25 were against credible opponents who received more than one-third of the vote. In the Senate, ten Senators spent less than $10,000 to get elected, including three first-timers.

As for the lawmaker most in the news this week – Rep. Daniel Gordon, R-Portsmouth – he was among last year’s most frugal candidates, raising and spending $4,050. Only 10 of the 75 other winning candidates for the House spent less. Gordon’s opponent, Democrat George Alzaibak, spent $7,231 – 24th-most among the 70 who lost.

(Fun fact: David Preston, New Harbor Group’s founder and president, remains the last person to run a winning Democratic campaign for governor in Rhode Island – 19 years ago when he managed Bruce Sundlun’s 1992 victory, as RI NPR’s Scott MacKay has pointed out.)