Joe Sestak still has the overall cash advantage but he was beaten by McGinty in their first quarterly contest.
Laura Olson of the Morning Call is reporting that the former Congressman raised $551,000 in the third quarter of 2015, which runs from July 1st to September 30th.
She also writes that he spent about $300,000 during that time and now has $2.4 million cash on hand.
McGinty released her top-line numbers earlier this month, showing she raised just over $1 million during this time period, nearly double what her opponent brought in (McGinty also had one less month to raise money as she entered the race on August 4th). Although since Sestak has been running for far longer, he still has a significant cash on hand advantage.
This Q3 total is also lower than Sestak’s total from this year’s second quarter, when he brought in just under $728K.
Sestak is running against McGinty and Braddock Mayor John Fetterman in the Democratic primary. Incumbent GOP Sen. Pat Toomey is also running for re-election.
You can also read our more in-depth studies of Toomey’s and Fetterman’s FEC reports. We will soon have similar reports on McGinty and Sestak as well.
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20 Responses
Observer #2-
Outside of the state committee, no voters are “aware” of her fracturing anything or being a puppet. They barely know who she is. They barely still know who Sestak is.
If McGinty is the light-weight and party shill you make her out to be, she’s not going to buck Dem majorities in her votes. Sestak has already proven he will buck the Dem majority to vote with the GOP. If Fetterman bucks the Dem majority, it will likely be for a more liberal/progressive position.
I never said I was supporting McGinty. I’ve merely indicated that the money, demographics, gender and union support favor McGinty.
I think Fetterman definitely takes away more votes from Sestak. I’d LOVE to see Sestak come in third. LOL
Dave:
McG will vote for corporate and fracking interests and do what Rendell tells her—so, don’t count on her loyalty to the Dem Party!!!!!!! McG is not a Dem, she is a corporacrat first and foremost. But, more importantly—she cannot beat Toomey. She has so fractured the Dem Party that lots of Dems will stay home (not vote for her) and some will even vote for Toomey to send a message to the likes of her puppeteers. Hell, Sestak will vote for the Dems positions and so will Fetterman! McG—not so much! I know you hate Sestak, but maybe you can earn some points by with fellow commenters here by supporting Fetterman, not the Rendell puppet. You can still blast Sestak—just don’t support McG as a default position?
Barbara Blum-
This fantasy about why the party doesn’t like Sestak is just more Sestak bullsh*t.
The party asked him to run for Senate, and he turned them down. They then managed to flip Specter (which was a major coup). Then, Sestak came crying back “No, wait. It’s MY turn.” and the party said “F*ck you, Joe. You had your chance and turned it down.”
Sestak started that whole job-gate nonsense and acted coy, implying that he may have been offered Secretary of the Navy. In truth, Sestak had not been out of the service long enough to qualify for the position, but he allowed that myth to continue. I heard a “rumor” that he tried to blackmail the White House into cancelling some Obama event with Specter by threatening to testify before Darryl Issa. (Sestak is certainly the kind of pr*ck who would burn the house down if he didn’t get the room he wanted.)
When Sestak did win the primary, he refused to work with the state committee in an organized/coordinated campaign. He also refused to pay any committee provided staffers minimum wage. So, it’s not a huge surprise that NO unions are supporting Sestak. The claim that they gave Sestak no help is a complete lie. The DSCC also spent plenty of money on Sestak, that really should have gone to Russ Feingold (who is worth 10 of Sestak).
The party is “against” Joe not because he “won’t play ball” but because refuses to work with the team, and sabotages the team for his own selfish aspirations. Also, Sestak’s got a few screws loose in his head. He’s a sadistic bastard who gets off screaming and yelling at his staff. See the movie The Caine Mutiny where the captain is so caught up harassing a sailor for an untucked shirt, that the ship circles around and cuts its tow cable.
Observer #2-
All she has to do is vote with the majority of the Dems. We could train a monkey to do that. Even a dead cat, that couldn’t vote, would be better than Toomey.
I know this sounds petty, but she is not, IMO, attractive! As for young, that’s a relative term. Her real problem is her lack of accomplishments politically. Dems problem–she can’t beat Toomey and likely will lose to Sestak. She is part of the Rendell machine–a most unattractive political/corporate combine. Too bad Wolf allowed himself to get involved in the skirmish/battle, but then his history goes way back to when he gave large sums to Rendell and then became a cabinet secretary for Rendell.
The other candidates are running against Sestak. He was in a long time before the National party, goaded by the State Party , decided to find someone, anyone to run against him. They did not want Sestak because he dared to beat their hand picked Former Republican Specter in the primary. Then the parties gave Sestak no help, no money, squandering cash on Harry Reid and som other conservative Democrats nationwide. Sestak lost by only 3 percent to Toomey.
They have beat the bushes looking for people to run against him, because he won’t follow their script . They finally latched onto McGinty. She is young, attractive and has no legislative background at all. She quit her role as Chief of Staff, during the difficult Buddget talks. And yet Wolf, who also had no real experience dealing with legislatures, is endorsing her.
Now the Unions are joining in support of her. Look at her history before the groundswell gives us another six years of Toomey.
There are a lot of “staffers” in the report. Many of them labeled as “consultants” so he doesn’t have to pay them benefits.
Too much trouble to data enter everything into spreadsheet to see dates of employment.
jtown dem: Half his staff quit? Is that true?
Bad fundraising and losing half of his staff…Sestak’s campaign seems to be in some serious trouble.
Sestak 40% McG 30% Poll: Sestak does the best vs. Toomey
Sestak’s FEC report is now online.
Biggest news is that he has an office (somewhere).
3.4 K to Media Real Estate for Security Deposit
6.7 K to Media Real Estate for build out costs
$795 to Media Real Estate for utilities
33.7K to Media Real Estate for RENT (july 1, day after 2nd quarter report was due. what a “coincidence”)
$868 Comcast cable service
$1203 Comcast cable service
$869 Comcast cable service
He hasn’t sent out an announcement for an office grand opening.
How many months rent does $33.7 K cover? If it’s past the April primary, that would be a general election expense.
Other highlights:
47.2K to GSI in Secunda, CA for fundraising
23.7K to GSI in Secunda, CA for fundraising
10K Paula Levine fundraising consulting
6.5K Kennedy printing
11.5K Kennedy printing
3.5K Kennedy printing
5K Kennedy printing
aaaaaaand half his staff quits……they mustve not heard about the amazing poll numbers……
Most recent Harper Poll: Sestak 40, McG 30.
“If politicspa ceased existing I would have no purpose in life” – Dave Diano
Unknown-
So many possibilities there…
Diano: Pity Sestak will need these funds for legal defense….
TrueBlue –
1) Joe’s $2.4 million in the bank is NOT all for primary. $200,000 was earmarked for general 2 years ago, so by now at least $400,000 is marked for general, and unavailable for the primary. (I don’t know the actual figure).
2) Joe’s been up and running for a while now, not just gearing up, hiring staff, etc.
3) The burn rate is important, and Joe’s burn rate has gotten progressively worse with each campaign finance report. Pretty soon, he’ll be spending $1.20 for each $1.00 he raises. LOL 🙂
4) I don’t know what the Gen vs Primary cash-on-hand numbers are for Fetterman and McGinty. You really need to look at both a full quarter and the Primary election money, which will be used. (though I expect McGinty will have a super-PAC with union and other funding)
5) Joe hasn’t been consistent in his fundraising. It’s been fits and starts. I think he got some bump when it looked like he was the only game in town, but that kind of funding will dry up, especially with McGinty as the establishment candidate with political and union support.
“Joe has been consistent and he’s been able to raise a decent amount every quarter.”
Even the Kool-aid drinkers can’t sound enthusiastic after this embarrassment
I was shocked at Joe’s burn rate, but he does have 2.4 million in the bank. That is more than McGinty. McGinty was able to raise so much because she was the chosen one with Wolf and Rendell completely behind her. That may dry out. She had to have a great first quarter. What an incredible embarrassment that would’ve been if she had not raised 1 million or close to it. Let’s see how this thing plays out. Fetterman may have had all his people dump in everything they could in the first 17 days. Joe has been consistent and he’s been able to raise a decent amount every quarter.
Sestak’s got a high burn-rate as well. His “net” was only $250 K.
So just to recap…
Q3 Fundraising:
Pat Toomey – $1.94 million (raised throughout full quarter)
Katie McGinty – $1.015 million (raised in just 2 months)
Joe Sestak – $550,000 (raised throughout full quarter)
John Fetterman – $170,000 (raised in just 17 days)
Notes:
-McGinty doubled Sestak in fundraising. McGinty raised $1 million in just 2 months versus Sestak who raised only $550,000 throughout the entire 3 month quarter. Keep in mind Sestak had one full month of fundraising without a primary opponent (July.) I would guess the balk of Sestak’s donations came in July prior to McGinty jumping into the race. If McGinty continues to double Sestak in fundraising she’ll have no problem getting her message out to voters long before primary day. So far, McGinty is dominating the “invisible primary” of fundraising and endorsements. And so far she is the only candidate to win the backing of PA’s powerful labor unions.
On per week basis:
McGinty (active 8 weeks): $126,875 per week
Fetterman (active 2.5 weeks): $67,600 per week
Sestak (active 13 weeks): $42,385
Pitiful performance for a guy who’s been running hard for two years.