Incumbents performed well, one challenger spent more than she raised and we put one incumbent on retirement watch. Check out who made this quarter’s list.
Rep. Pat Meehan (R-Delaware, PA-7)
Meehan doesn’t even have a challenger, but his war chest looks like he’s running against a serious contender in a competitive district. So far, it looks like his millions will remain intact this year.
He raised $280,115, spent $92,473 and has $1,591,902.16 on hand – the most of any unopposed incumbent in the Pennsylvania delegation.
Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Bucks, PA-8)
Fitzpatrick is another incumbent with a sizable campaign account, but he has two Democrats in his district fighting to challenge him. Veteran Kevin Strouse is the official DCCC candidate to face Fitzpatrick, but chemist Shaughnessy Naughton is giving him a run for his money in the Democratic primary. However, even their fundraising combined didn’t match Fitzpatrick’s.
The incumbent raised $348,853, spent $119,087 and has $1,276,462.30 on hand – the third largest fund of any congressional candidate this year.
Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Blair, PA-9)
Shuster resides in a comfortably Republican district, but this year he faces a primary challenge from both Travis Schooley and Art Halvorson. Despite the inner-party competition, the incumbent is well funded to handle the fight.
He raised $550,730, spent $353,597 and has $1,359,197.39 on hand – the second highest COH number of any congressional candidate.
Valerie Arkoosh (D-Montgomery, PA-13)
This physician and activist is fighting in a four-way primary against experienced politicians, and she’s got the healthiest fundraising in the pack. She outraised 2 of her opponents, but beat them all in COH.
She raised $203,000 and still has $643,932 on hand
Losers
Art Halvorson (R-Bedford, PA-9)
The Tea Party challenger to Rep. Shuster has run a noisy campaign, countering Shuster on nearly every issue, but his fundraising numbers didn’t show the same strength.
He raised only $8,699 and has $72,398 on hand.
Erin McClelland and John Hugya (D-Allegheny and Cambria, PA-12)
The Democrats itching to face Rep. Keith Rothfus haven’t mounted a serious financial challenge to the incumbent.
McClelland raised about $30,000 and Hugya brought in $31,000 and their COH numbers are also comparable: McClelland with $20,847 and Hugya with $25,496, but Rothfus blew them both out of the water, bringing in $237,288.05 in the fourth quarter and keeping $872,447.68 on hand.
Marjorie Margolies (D-Montgomery, PA-13)
The former Congresswoman from PA-13 is locked in a primary battle to take back her former seat, but this is the second quarter in a row that she’s displayed a dangerous burn rate. In Q3, she spent 86% of what she raised, and this quarter she spent more than she raised.
Particularly foreboding for the Margolies campaign is that some of her cash on hand is general money, from individuals that maxed out their primary and general contributions.
She raised $211,000 and spent $225,000 and is left with $173,866.
David Moylan and Matt Dietz (R-Schuylkill and Northampton, PA-17)
Two Republicans are battling to face Rep. Matt Cartwright in PA-17, but they haven’t raised the funds to be competitive.
Dietz raised under $7,000 and Moyland brought in less than $4,000. Dietz has about $13,000 on hand compared to Moylan’s COH of less than $2,000 but their prospective competitor has $470,970.74 waiting to take one of them on in the general.
Retirement Watch?
Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Philadelphia, PA-2)
Fattah’s year end report shows minimal raising, a lot of spending and very low cash on hand. He raised just $35,645, spend $74,782.74 and has only $16,877 on hand.
Comparatively, in the last quarter of 2011, moving into the election year of 2012, he raised $69,775.00, spent $23,331.77 and had $120,714.57 on hand.
Fattah is 57 years old and has served the 2nd District since 1995. Before that, he served terms in both the Pennsylvania State House and Senate.
An important caveat: Fattah has not faced anything resembling a serious challenge for years, and he could coast to another term in 2014 with 0 dollars. The next few quarters may tell the tale.
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Senate 4th Quarter winners/losers:
Winner: Toomey
Raised $765K while spending $370K (48% burn rate)
Loser: Sestak
Raised $150K while spending $37.7K
(25% burn rate, though lower than Toomey’s, is Sestak’s highest to date)
Sestak raised less than half of what he raised 3rd quarter. And Toomey’s net was more than triple Sestak’s.
Cash on hand:
Toomey $4.025 million
Sestak $1.025 million