PROVIDENCE — With the General Assembly elections less than nine months away, the Republican State Central Committee has one-tenth of the cash reserves of its Democratic counterpart and has undergone a heated internal debate over how best to spend its money to elect more Republicans to the legislature this fall.

The GOP began 2008 with just $9,721 in the bank, according to filings with the state Board of Elections, after a fourth quarter in 2007 in which the party spent more than $50,000 on staff and fundraising costs.

By contrast, the Democratic State Committee started 2008 with about $96,000.

Rhode Island GOP Chairman Giovanni Cicione says the 2008 cycle offers local Republicans “great opportunities” to dent the Democratic Party’s dominance on Smith Hill, “given the budget, and the corruption scandals.” State government is wrestling with a budget shortfall, and last October former Democratic House Majority Leader Gerard Martineau pleaded guilty to selling his office for personal gain.

Rhode Island has one of the most politically lopsided legislatures in the United States. Republicans hold 13 of 75 seats in the House, and 5 of 38 in the Senate. All House and Senate seats are up for election this fall.

Cicione, who took over the party leadership a year ago, intends to “spend every penny” in pursuit of more seats, in part by raising more money.

“We’re doing some things that are very aggressive to expand our donor base, and that costs money,” Cicione said.

The strategy has met some opposition in the local GOP, much of which has played out recently in a long string of sometimes-caustic e-mails that were copied to dozens of people in the party.

“People say you have to spend money to make money,” said Dave Cote, head of the state GOP chairmen’s caucus. “Well, not if you don’t have any money.”

Cote, who last year pursued the party chairmanship, which Cicione won, says the party needs to change how it runs. “The Rhode Island GOP cannot afford the money we’re spending on a weekly basis,” he said. “Our labor expenses were about $2,000 a week. We can’t support the staff that we have. We can’t afford the expenses we’re incurring with the money that we bring in.”

He recommends the party cut its paid staff — two employees, recently down from three — and switch to volunteers. “We need to show we’re giving as much money to candidates as possible,” he said. “For the time being, we need to adopt the local GOP model of all volunteers.”

Cote made his pitch in e-mails to Cicione that were copied to numerous people in the party. “If a vote is possible to change direction,” he wrote, “I vote to immediately adopt the local GOP model” of an all-volunteer staff.

Cicione, in a widely distributed response, wrote that Cote’s “half-assed attempt to analyze the party budget is both unproductive and grossly misleading.”

As Cicione sees it, Cote’s plan would wave a white flag until Election Day.

“His suggestion is we give up on 2008, fire the staff, hope for the best, and then focus on 2010,” Cicione said. “I don’t think that’s a good strategy. We have the best opportunity in a generation to change the balance of the General Assembly in this state.”

Cicione wants to add a staff member in August, before the November general election.

Cicione said the party has no debt, and that the $9,700 reported in late December was a low point brought on in part by aggressive spending on fundraising, and a special House election in Newport that produced a victory for Republican Steven Coaty in what had been a Democratic district.

The party spent about $24,000 in the final three months of 2007 on fundraising and about $30,000 on staff and payroll services, according to financial disclosures.

The party is actively recruiting candidates for the General Assembly, Cicione said. “I’m not going to say we’re going to fill every race, but we’re going to try.”

Republican Governor Carcieri, who was reelected to a four-year term in 2006, will be raising money for GOP candidates to the General Assembly this cycle, Cicione said.

Democratic Party Chairman William Lynch said he was comfortable with his party’s financial position. The organization will probably wait until fall to raise money, to avoid competing with candidates for donor dollars, he said.

Rhode Island Democrats have two full-time staff members paid for by the Democratic National Committee, and one person paid for by the state party, he said.

Democrats will field a full slate this fall, he said. “We’re in the same boat we’re always in — we have plenty of candidates.”

marsenau@projo.com