Democratic attorney general candidate Joe Solomon Jr. has released his campaign’s first television ad as part of a six-figure shopping spree across broadcast television, cable and digital platforms.
The 30-second spot “Safer” launches a week before early voting begins for the Sept. 9 primary and makes Solomon the last of the four Democrats in the race to hit the airwaves. All are seeking to succeed term-limited Attorney General Peter Neronha.
At least $26,295 of Solomon’s ad spend went toward 44 TV spots to air on local broadcast stations WJAR and WPRI between Aug. 12 and Aug. 18, Federal Communications Commission filings show. The WJAR buy totals $16,180 for 22 spots, while the campaign reserved another 22 spots on WPRI for $10,115.
Solomon frames himself in the ad in much the same way as he has in recent debates, noting how his experience cuts across both civil and criminal areas of law. The ad references Solomon’s work as a prosecutor in the office of the Warwick city solicitor and his decade as a bail commissioner.
“For a safer Rhode Island, I stood up for victims, and prosecuted hundreds of cases,” Solomon says in the ad. “And served as bail commissioner, keeping violent criminals off our streets.”
The ad emphasizes Solomon’s endorsements from law enforcement and emergency personnel, noting that the candidate is “the only Democrat in the race endorsed by state troopers, police officers, and firefighters.”
Solomon’s endorsements over the past few months have included Rhode Island Deputy Sheriffs, the Rhode Island State Association of Fire Fighters, the Rhode Island State Fraternal Order of Police, the International Brotherhood of Police Officers and National Association of Government Employees, Rhode Island Troopers Association, and Rhode Island Brotherhood of Correctional Officers.
The ad’s conclusion poses Solomon as a shield against President Donald Trump.
“I’ll stand up to the criminal-in-chief, and enforce the law to protect all of our families,” Solomon says as cool-toned footage of Trump nodding backgrounds his voiceover.
The ad highlights Solomon’s General Assembly experience, with the candidate claiming he “led the fight to protect seniors from scams and fraud.” The Warwick state representative was first elected in 2014 and has chaired the House Committee on Corporations. Earlier this year, Solomon introduced the House version of a bill that would have created a statewide elder advocacy office, focused on protecting the rights of older Rhode Islanders.
Solomon voted against Rhode Island’s ban on certain semiautomatic weapons, which was passed and signed into law in 2025. It was sponsored in the House by Rep. Jason Knight, a Barrington Democrat and Solomon’s rival in the AG race. Knight debuted his television campaign on Aug. 7.
Keith Hoffmann — who received the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Thursday — was the first candidate in the Democratic primary to advertise on TV, with his first 30-second spot airing July 21. His campaign said at the time that it had authorized more than $1 million in television, digital and other media for ads through primary election day.
Hoffmann — Neronha’s former policy director and assistant attorney general and the current AG’s own pick for his successor — had spent $412,000 worth of ads across Rhode Island’s broadcast and cable TV networks as of Aug. 7.
Former Rhode Island Cannabis Control Commission Chair Kim Ahern, a former prosecutor, aired her debut ad the week after Hoffmann. In addition to $104,000 spent on TV ads as of Aug. 7, Ahern’s campaign purchased 71 more spots for $34,000, according to FCC filings, with the ads set to air on WJAR and Coastal ABC between Aug. 12 and Aug. 18.
Early voting begins Aug. 20, ahead of the Sept. 9 primary. The Democratic nominee will face Republican Alan Gordon in the Nov. 3 general election.
Originally published on rhodeislandcurrent.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
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