By Alex Roarty
PoliticsPA Staff Writer
roarty@politicspa.com
Democratic congressional candidate Doug Pike said Thursday he raised $225,000 in the year’s first fundraising quarter, giving him about $1.2 cash on hand.
The candidate, who faces Manan Trivedi in the 6th District Democratic primary, has raised $1.6 million this election cycle, according to a press release on his campaign Web site. He had about $1.1 million on hand to start the year.
Trivedi has not yet released his fundraising numbers, though he faced a $1 million gap against Pike to start the year.
Much of Pike’s fundraising has stemmed from personal contributions he’s made to the campaign, and the press release did not indicate how much of this year’s total included his own money. It did say he has received contributions from more than 1,700 people thus far.
The release also touted the candidate’s significant cash-on-hand advantage over Republican incumbent Jim Gerlach, who reported Thursday he has roughly $335,000 available. Pike has touted his financial advantage as proof he would make the best general election opponent against Gerlach, who Democrats have tried unsuccessfully to knock off for years despite his left-leaning district.
John F.,
I feel rather unfortunate for you. I’m assuming your a Democrat and probably adhere to those values and morals. That said I would also have to assume your in love with Jim Gerlach given the fact that you fail to realize who the best candidate will be come November. You, obviously, are more than welcome to support Mr. Trivedi, however, expect two more years of Mr. Gerlach as a result. PA-6 has needed a Democratic candidate who actually has a chance of winning in November. Now I’m sure Mr. Trivedi’s “apple juice factory” and his brilliance in Iraq will lead him to victory in November, however, his lack of funding and organization may just not be enough. But wait a minute, doesn’t Mr. Trivedi roll out endorsement after endorsement?? In fact he does, but please educate me on the value of rolling out committee person endorsements. It looks good on paper I’m sure, but if you had any idea how insignificant committee people are and especially in PA-6; than it may just dawn on you that receiving endorsements from Rep. Patrick Murphy, Rep. Allyson Schwartz, Rep. Bob Brady, Rep. Chaka Fattah, AFSCME, SEIU, UFCW and AFL-CIO, as Pike has, may just be a TAD more important.
Further, I don’t know who is doing your research, I hope not yourself, as it is quite elementary. Mr. Pike’s money is solely his and is not his fathers. While it may be a good excuse for you to blame someone because they have received money from their parents it simply isn’t the case. But I would ask you to go back to your research and actually find something substantive, it would shock me if you knew how to.
And for those of you who believe that an individual receiving money from their parents is morally incorrect or against the law I hate to break it to you, it’s not. Mr. Pike does have money, however, you fail to realize that the money he has put into his campaign and will never get back. While many candidates like to put money in and expect a return, Mr. Pike does not. While you may be jealous why don’t you accept the fact that we have an individual who has money and is spending it to make this country a better place. And for those of you who complain I doubt you have the courage to run for office, in fact I’m going to guess you would take that money and worry about yourself.
Face it, Doug Pike is a loser. Tell me what journalist has millions to pour into a campaign? Only one and that’s because daddy left him a lot of money for him to play with. Have you ever watched or listened to this guy? He’s a whiner who has no compelling reason to run other than he feels some sense of entitlement, because he wrote some speeches or some nonsense for a hack politician. No wonder everyone is fleeing his campaign to go to Trivedi.