Patrick Murphy’s contributions from labor unions have helped him close the gap with Kathleen Kane, his opponent in Democratic primary for Attorney General.

Reports Peter Jackson of the AP:

Murphy’s campaign took in more than $305,000 since the beginning of the year, contrasted with $58,000 in contributions to Kathleen Kane, a former Lackawanna County prosecutor.

Murphy, a former two-term congressman whose campaign received generous support from organized labor, reported $1.2 million in the bank as of the reports’ March 5 closeout. Kane, who has relied primarily on a $1.8 million loan from her husband, maintained a balance of nearly $2 million.

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In the attorney general’s race, Philadelphia labor unions led the contributions to Murphy, who received $25,000 from Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and $10,000 each from locals of the Communications Workers of America and the Iron Workers.

Murphy reported various campaign expenses totaling about $165,000 during the nine-week period. Kane’s campaign spent about $73,000, most of it for consultants.

Auditor General

As for other Pa. row office primary in the state, Auditor General hopeful and Pa. Rep. John Maher has a wide fundraising lead on primary opponent Frank Pinto. Pinto is the former president of the Pa. Community Bankers Association.

Maher, the candidate endorsed by GOP state committee, has about $100,000 on hand. His biggest contributions come from Gov. Tom Corbett ($25,000) and a self-loan ($20,000). Pinto has about $18,000 on hand, and loaned himself $15,000.

Pinto has criticized Maher for routinely financing his campaigns with self-loans, thus incurring what is officially recorded as debt – although that is not unusual by campaign standards. Maher’s state House campaign committee was $210,000 in the hole after the 2010 election.