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PA-13: Leach Leads Q1 With Large Margin

Daylin-Leach-portrait-2013-loresState Senator Daylin Leach came out in front of the widest congressional primary pack in the state.

Leach raised $335,660; physician Valerie Arkoosh came in second with $220,474; former Congresswoman Marjorie Margolies in third with $211,178 raised; and State Rep. Brendan Boyle in a distant fourth with just $114,246.

Two Republicans are also battling to represent one of the most D-leaning districts in the state, Dee Adcock and Bev Bowser. Adcock raised $63,600 after a $50,000 loan from himself. Bowser raised $15,780.

There were drastic changes in the leaderboard of the Democratic contenders in terms of fundraising, but one thing remains the same – Margolies’ negative burn rate.

Margolies

Her spending was more under control than the fourth quarter, but she spent $225,255 after raising $211,178 (106% burn rate). Her expenses were about the same as last year, high end consultants: Linda August $14,000, Erickson & Company Inc. $9,000, Info Voter Technologies Inc. $25,000, Joe Trippi & Associates Inc. $10,880, $24,000 Katz Watson Group Inc., $40,000 for Ken Smuckler.

The major fundraiser with Bill Clinton was held during the 2nd Quarter, but will be drastically needed to boost her cash on hand number, which sits at a dangerously low $159,789, not all of which can even be used in the primary after double max-out contributions.

This quarter did see some other high-profile contributors, including Bill Richardson $1,000, Governor Ed Rendell $500, Ezekiel Emanuel $500.

Leach

Leach is the big winner in this quarter. He outraised his competitors by a fundraising-mile and held onto a lot of it to bring his cash on hand number much closer to Arkoosh’s.

He spent $162,655, leaving him with $654,202, certainly enough to purchase serious amounts of air time closer to the primary.

His more than $300,000 in contributions came from maximum checks from 13 of his 22 Democratic colleagues in the Senate, and $16,000 from himself.

This is a major improvement over Q4 when Leach placed 3rd in the cash raised totals with $170K, and $481,197 on hand after spending $65,994 in the last quarter of the year.

Arkoosh

The first-time candidate impressed again this quarter, bringing in $220,474.

She spent reasonably ($176,875), maintaining her lead in cash on hand at $687,530. About 80% of that is money that can be used for the primary, so she and Leach are neck and neck moving into the last month of the campaign.

Boyle

One of the biggest surprises in the Q1 reports for this race was Boyle’s total raised. He brought in just $114,246, which would be an impressive amount were he not competing in a four-way primary for a safely Democratic seat.

This is even a decrease from Q4, where he raised $140,000. The last quarter of the year is typically slow, given that several major holidays fall in the period, making fundraisers more difficult to schedule.

He didn’t spend much, $97,111, but his cash on hand, $398,237, will not buy him the sort of exposure that Arkoosh and Leach will be able to afford.

Adcock

This Republican has been a good sport in the race, attending debates where the audience was clearly biased against him but his fundraising does not indicate a candidacy that is able to overthrow such a heavily Democratic seat.

He loaned himself $50,000, leading to a total raised of $63,600. He spent $16,441 and finished the period with $47,188 on hand.

Bowser

Adcock’s opponent for the uphill battle to the general election posted smaller numbers and has run an even lower-profile campaign.

She raised $15,780, spent $12,347.39 and has just $2,432.61 on hand moving into the second quarter. If you subtract Adcock’s loan, though, she did slightly outraise him in total contributions.

6 Responses

  1. Wendy Wolf – Valerie Arkoosh’s contributions come solely from progressive doctors? I find that very hard to believe. It is also great that she headed the NPA, but she seems to have made a lot of money off the system that she wants changed.

  2. Valerie’s donors are women all over this country that know that she will make a huge difference in congress for women and their families. Valerie headed a group called the National Physicians Alliance, a progressive alternative to the American Medical Association that does not take money from drug companies or insurance companies. Her network and contributions are from progressive doctors who want affordable health care for all

  3. The teacher unions’ endorsement is obviously helpful, but it unclear how helpful because it is unclear how strong is Leach’s GOTV. A candidate needs to have a strong, stand-alone GOTV to properly integrate outside assistance.

  4. Daylin Leach has the endorsement of the teachers’ unions. That’s 5,000+ union members who can work for him –and that’s just the number for the congressional district alone!

  5. I am not surprised by Brendan Boyle’s fundraising numbers. Unlike MM, Leach, or Arkoosh, Brendan is not wealthy and can’t call upon a vast array of other wealthy people to support him. (Perhaps this is something that the voters of the 13th Congressional District should consider when deciding who will truly represent their interests.) Yet Brendan Boyle has enough cash on hand to promote his message. Four hundred thosand cash on hand is still a substantial amount of money.

    Perhaps most importantly, Boyle seems to have the best GOTV. In a crowded race like this, getting one’s supporters to the polls will be of utmost importance. The Boyle campaign’s ability to submit thousands of nominating petitions – much more than his opponents – indicates that the campaign’s field operations are very strong. Labor has overwhelming supported Brendan Boyle, and adding union support to the field operations is only going to help the Boyle campaign’s GOTV efforts.

  6. Notable that the heavy hitters from the Clinton Machine (Margolies-Mezvinsky) and Big Labor (Boyle) have stayed on the sidelines so far – they don’t like to back losers, especially in a Primary fight. No surprise that wealthy doctors are dumping lots of cash on Arkoosh – but does she get money from ANYBODY else? No votes come from out of state doctors…

    The impressive donations to Leach from his Senate colleagues can mean one of two things: either they have been so impressed by his skills and general political acumen that they know he will win and want to be on his good side when he gets to DC, OR they are sick of his jokes and are just trying to get him out of their hair. It is a win-win situation for them…

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