Based on the quarterly financial reports released on July 15, Republican Ryan Costello has a significant cash advantage over Democrat Manan Trivedi heading into the third quarter. Both candidates are looking to claim the seat of retiring incumbent Jim Gerlach, who has been the representative for PA-6 for six terms.

Costello has just over twice the cash on hand that Trivedi does, with Costello claiming $808,986 and Trivedi only $357,664. Regardless of Costello’s cash advantage, both candidates are keeping spending low, with Trivedi spending only one-quarter of what he brought in and Costello spending only one-sixth of his contributions.

Contributions

Costello raked in $600,174 between May 1 and June 30, with just over half of it coming from PACs and just under half coming from individuals.

His largest contribution was $11,163 from, unsurprisingly, the Fitzpatrick Costello Victory Fund. This sizable contribution was closely followed by a $10,375 donation from Young Guns, a PAC started by a former aide to current Majority Leader Eric Cantor that has also endorsed Costello.

Trivedi was able to raise $236,469 during this financial period. Though this is less than half what Costello brought in, Trivedi may have a leg-up on grassroots support.

Nearly two-thirds of Trivedi’s contributions came from individuals, with only $83,500 coming from PACs. Costello still outraised Trivedi in regards to dollars from individuals, but Trivedi beat Costello in terms of quantity; he had almost twice as many donations from individuals, many of which were for $100 or less.

Trivedi’s largest contributions came from the New Democrat Coalition PAC and AmeriPAC: The Fund for a Greater America with $10,000 and $7,500, respectively.

Expenditures

Neither candidate had an opponent in the primary, which could explain why both seem to be saving their funds for the months leading up to the general.

Costello spent only $103,831 this quarter. Nearly $12,000 went to the Tarrance Group, a Republican polling firm, for field research. He paid Maria Diesel $10,124 in several installments for field consulting, and LN Consulting Inc. $10,000 for strategy consulting.

Trivedi spent even less than Costello, with just $61,069 coming out of his campaign account. His largest payment was $9,000 to Daren Berringer for communications consulting, followed by the Mammen Group, Inc. for direct mail services.

Costello has a very obvious financial advantage at this point in the race, and led in an internal poll conducted in May. However, the DCCC announced in March that it considers PA-6 an “Emerging District” capable of turning blue in November and showed its support for Trivedi when it announced in late May that has earmarked millions for an ad buy in this district in the fall. Then in June the DCCC added Trivedi to their “Red to Blue” list. Costello has also received support from the NRCC, including their own planned ad buy.