Democratic candidate for mayor Richard Corrente said yesterday he was ecstatic with the response to the first fundraiser of his campaign held Monday night at the Lemongrass Restaurant.

“It was quantity as well as quality,” Corrente said of the turnout that he placed at about 200 over the course of the evening. Corrente didn’t venture to guess how much was raised during the evening, saying that checks were still coming in. Tickets were $40 per person and $65 per couple.

Corrente said he told those in attendance he is in the race for the long haul and that “when the election arrives in 2016 the city of Warwick will have a mayor who is a Democrat.”

In an email, Corrente called the evening “epic” and made a point of naming many who attended.

“Joe McNamara, the head of the R.I. Democrats was there, as was Rob Farrell, the head of the Warwick Dems. We also had city council people Tom Chadronet and Ed Ladouceur, execs from all of Warwick’s 9 Wards including Ken Smith and Bill Bernard, Karen Bachus of the School Committee, Warwick’s political elder statesman Bill Hickey and Henry Brown, Warwick’s Historian, the author of many books and the landlord of Gaspee Point and a dozen or so major Warwick business owners.”

In his comments, Corrente said he is not taking on this challenge for himself.

“It’s for my children, my children’s children; your children and your children’s children. I want the Warwick of tomorrow to be a better place to live in than the Warwick of today,” he said.

Corrente said he is working on two more activities in the near future, a regularly scheduled TV show “Warwick Taxpayers’ News” and a gathering directed at Warwick business owners. The TV program would be aired on Public Access TV, he said. He hasn’t firmed up the details of a business “meet and greet” as he called it, but he likened it to a chamber event where business people could network and he would have an opportunity to outline his campaign.

Yesterday Corrente also chose to clarify his position regarding a group including former Ward 1 Councilman Robert Cushman, Rob Cote and Roger Durand who regularly attend council meetings.

He said he agrees with their views that the city has gotten a raw deal out of airport expansion. He said in exchange for water and air pollution and loss of taxable property, the city has gotten some “really nice sod,” which is a reference to the new Winslow Park playing fields. He said he is also in agreement with some of their complaints over motor vehicle taxes.

“Where I disconnect,” he said, “is where they say the current plan is wrong, but they don’t say what is right. Don’t knock what is going on unless you have a better way.”

Corrente said “the Democratic Party is alive and well in Warwick.” He added that it is a diverse group, as diverse as the means they have chosen to deliver their checks. He said friends have left checks in his car, outside his door and even inside his outdoor grill.

Apart from thanking those who attended, Corrente also commended the staff at Lemongrass and owner Shang Wang, “who treated us like royalty.”