Clearly the winner of the first reports of 2014, Rep. Allyson Schwartz outraised every other individual running for governor when she posted $1.5 million in the first three months of the year.
She brought $4.6 million from last year and spent $1,034,959 between January 1st to March 31st, leaving her with $5,148,206.
Of the Democrats running for the gubernatorial nomination, she’s the only one who raised more than she spent in 2014, with a burn rate of 67%.
The largest contributor to her campaign is pro-choice, women’s group Emily’s List who gave Schwartz $355,000 already this year. Her other biggest donors are the Sheet Metal Workers Local 19 who contributed $10,000 and IBEW 98 who contributed $50,000.
Her expenses were mostly limited to consultants, including $57,000 to Benenson Strategy Group in Colorado, $22,000 to Tightline Strategies in Missouri, and $18,000 to New Blue Interactive in Maryland. She also had the expected expenditures on voter databases and mail.
Last year, the Congresswoman brought in $2.99 million after declaring her bid for Governor in April. She also transferred $3.56 million from her congressional account for a total of $6.55 million in the door, but early on was outspending her opponents.
Schwartz did not start television advertising until this week, unlike all of her opponents who started their media buys much earlier and their spending in the first quarter of the year reflects that.
To win the Democratic nomination for governor, Schwartz will have to defeat former Revenue Secretary Tom Wolf, State Treasurer Rob McCord and former DEP Secretary Katie McGinty.
Early in the race, Schwartz was considered the frontrunner but Wolf’s television blitz moved her to a distant second in the polls; however, her fundraising in the early portions of 2014 may enable her to make a comeback. .
7 Responses
Maybe she should use some of the cash to explain why she wanted to cut our Social Security. She was honorary chair of Third Way, then resigned promptly when the media exposed her. Third Way just will not go away! I don’t trust her, period.
@jackb1977
You know why Schwartz needs to introduce herself to the voters outside of Philly? Because she’s never here.
With the amount of cash she has on hand she is in a perfect position to be able to get her message out and bring wolf back to the pack. She might be the only one other than wolf that can afford to go negative. Nice haul.
If I’m Schwartz I don’t go up on TV in the Philly market this week or next. Spend the money in Scranton/WB, Altoona/Johnstown, Pittsburgh, Lehigh Valley and Erie areas. Need to introduce herself there and start the familiarity factor with the voters. Nice job with her fundraising # and burn rate.
This is an analysis of her fundraising report and there is no mention of the number of donors she has. Don’t you think it is worth noting?
Don’t count her out. Remember at this point in 2010 Arlen Specter was still leading Sestak in the polls.
She’ll have to spend a lot of it quick. Is she airing any ads in the Philly area, or expecting her name ID to carry her there?