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Michael Costa
Michael Costa (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Rhode Island. Costa lost in the Democratic primary on September 10, 2024.
Biography
Michael Costa was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and lives in Bristol, Rhode Island. Costa earned a bachelor's degree and master's degree in civil engineering from Bucknell University, and an M.B.A. from Duke University. His career experience includes working as an engineer, investor, and professor. Costa has been affiliated with the YMCA of Greater Providence.[1][2]
Elections
2024
See also: United States Senate election in Rhode Island, 2024
General election
General election for U.S. Senate Rhode Island
Incumbent Sheldon Whitehouse defeated Patricia Morgan and Armando Anzoli in the general election for U.S. Senate Rhode Island on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Sheldon Whitehouse (D) | 59.9 | 294,665 |
 | Patricia Morgan (R) | 39.8 | 196,039 | |
| Armando Anzoli (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 0 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 1,244 | ||
| Total votes: 491,948 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Rhode Island
Incumbent Sheldon Whitehouse defeated Michael Costa in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Rhode Island on September 10, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sheldon Whitehouse | 83.8 | 49,401 |
 | Michael Costa | 16.2 | 9,572 | |
| Total votes: 58,973 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Allen Waters (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. Senate Rhode Island
Patricia Morgan defeated Raymond McKay in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Rhode Island on September 10, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Patricia Morgan | 64.4 | 12,108 |
 | Raymond McKay | 35.6 | 6,681 | |
| Total votes: 18,789 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Costa in this election.
2022
See also: Rhode Island gubernatorial election, 2022
General election
General election for Governor of Rhode Island
Incumbent Daniel McKee defeated Ashley Kalus, Zachary Baker Hurwitz, Paul Rianna Jr., and Elijah Gizzarelli in the general election for Governor of Rhode Island on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Daniel McKee (D) | 57.9 | 207,166 |
 | Ashley Kalus (R) | 38.9 | 139,001 | |
 | Zachary Baker Hurwitz (Independent) | 1.3 | 4,512 | |
 | Paul Rianna Jr. (Independent) | 0.9 | 3,123 | |
 | Elijah Gizzarelli (L) | 0.8 | 2,811 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 1,057 | ||
| Total votes: 357,670 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- James Aubin (L)
- Christopher Reynolds (Independent)
- Richard Spinney (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Governor of Rhode Island
Incumbent Daniel McKee defeated Helena Foulkes, Nellie Gorbea, Matt Brown, and Luis Daniel Muñoz in the Democratic primary for Governor of Rhode Island on September 13, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Daniel McKee | 32.8 | 37,288 |
 | Helena Foulkes | 29.9 | 33,931 | |
 | Nellie Gorbea | 26.2 | 29,811 | |
 | Matt Brown | 7.9 | 9,021 | |
 | Luis Daniel Muñoz | 3.1 | 3,547 | |
| Total votes: 113,598 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Kalilu Camara (D)
- Seth Magaziner (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Governor of Rhode Island
Ashley Kalus defeated Jonathan Riccitelli in the Republican primary for Governor of Rhode Island on September 13, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ashley Kalus | 83.7 | 17,188 |
 | Jonathan Riccitelli | 16.3 | 3,351 | |
| Total votes: 20,539 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Emmanuel Adjei (R)
- Michael Costa (R)
- David Darlington (R)
- Rey Herrera (R)
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Michael Costa did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
Costa’s campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
Stop Inflating Prices Washington shoveled money out. Inflation set in. Prices soared. Debt rose. Interest on debt now exceeds US military spending. Higher interest payments mean less money available for future needs. Like binging on junk food, it feels good at the moment, then awful for much longer. Who would trust the same people in Congress who brought us high prices and debt not to do so again? The person you catch stealing from the register will always say, “I won’t do it again.” Congresspeople will say the same. The right thing to do in both cases is, replace them.
Total federal spending on children totals about 10% of the federal budget. It will decrease to 6% in the next 10 years as spending programs for adults -- mostly social security and healthcare -- soar from 39% to 48% of total spending. Instead, let’s substantially increase funding for K-12 schooling, pre-K, and NSF and NIH (research that will mostly benefit the young). Let’s do so without increasing the debt or stoking inflation again by designating all payroll taxes on earnings above $168,600 for Children’s Education.
Fair for Americans, who embrace immigrants. They want peace of mind — secure borders, equal treatment, stable and sensible policy, and following a process. Fair for past immigrants. They sacrificed to come to this country. They want opportunities for others to do the same; they simply want everyone to do it the right way. Fair for recent immigrants. They need recognition and clear paths to legal status. Fair for future immigrants. They deserve clear rules, equal consideration, and opportunity.
Social Security benefits will be cut by nearly 25% by 2032 — just 8 years from now — because Congress has done nothing. The average Senator has been in office for 11 years, twenty-four Senators for 18 years or more. They had their chance. It’s time for change. People rely on Social Security income; a reduction in benefits would be painful. Reducing or eliminating benefits to high earners would help, but barely moves the needle. Fully funding social security requires higher taxes. There, I said it.
Nobody should squat in high office for decades. Trust in government derives from openness. 12 years for Congress and 18 years for federal judges is plenty. “Graveyards are filled with people the world thought it couldn’t do without”
Rhode Island’s minimum wage goes to $15 per hour January 1, 2025. The federal minimum wage is $7.25. Through various Federal programs, Rhode Island taxpayers subsidize low-wage employers in other states. Increasing the Federal minimum wage to equal RI’s $15/hour will reduce the subsidy Rhode Islanders pay to other states.
The purpose of a tax system should be to provide necessary revenue to the government. Instead, it’s become a way of allocating preferences and penalties. Much tax evasion stems not from greed but from envy: Nobody wants to pay more than someone else, similarly situated. Complexity fuels these fears. Tax code complexity also imposes enormous time and expense on Americans. Let’s make taxes simpler and fairer. We can begin by eliminating reduced rates for carried interest and dividends. We could be bold and introduce a provision that overrides most of the existing code — tax incomes over $1 million at 30%, with few deductions, exemptions, or credits. That would simplify things, equalize treatment, and increase the tax rate actually paid.
Private citizens who trade on insider information are subject to serious penalties. Shouldn’t Congress be held to at least the same standard? We might hope that congresspeople would exercise enough discretion to not trade on privileged information. We might; we’d be wrong. Why hasn’t Congress banned stock trading yet?
Abortion will be addressed at the federal level. The outcome seems obvious to me: Codify the essence of Roe v. Wade. “[s]urely I can, if I am so inclined, demand some kind of law against abortion… because I think that the whole community… should agree on the importance of protecting life. But should I?… Does it promote human harmony and understanding? Or does it divide us so fundamentally that it threatens our ability to function as a pluralistic society?” ~Mario Cuomo, 1984 Notre Dame
Climate Change is a result of a warming Globe. Clear language produces useful action. Global emissions is the cause. US action alone will be inadequate. Developing countries have massively increased carbon emissions. They will not reduce emissions at the expense of their quality of life. Only an engineering solution can adequately address global carbon emissions. Another engineering problem, the Manhattan Project, went from inception to completion in just 4 years. Global Warming requires similar urgency and perseverance. [3] |
” |
| —Michael Costa’s campaign website (2024)[4] | ||
2022
Michael Costa did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Costa for Senate, "About Mike," accessed August 30, 2024
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Michael Costa," accessed August 30, 2024
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Costa for Senate, “Issues,” accessed August 30, 2024
