The latest fundraising numbers in the Senate race are beginning to come in.
According to Jonathan Tamari of the Inquirer, Democratic Senate candidate Katie McGinty raised $980,000 for the fourth quarter of 2015. She also has $1.2 million cash on hand, which is only a $300,000 increase from last quarter.
McGinty has been able to raise just about $2 million dollars since she got into the race last August. As a result, she falls well short of Senator Toomey’s war chest, which was around $9.6 million at the end of 2015.
Katie McGinty also still has to worry about Joe Sestak, who has been campaigning for the past six years and had $2.4 million at the end of September, as well as Braddock Mayor John Fetterman, who is hoping his outsider status boosts a campaign that raised $168,000 after just a couple weeks on the trail.
“I have received support from someone in every county and with this help, we are on our way to electing Pennsylvania’s first-ever woman Senator,” McGinty said in a statement.
Union Endorsement
She also boasted of a new labor supporter, this one coming from the Iron Workers Local 3 Union that represents over 1800 iron workers across Western Pennsylvania.
“We believe that Katie McGinty is the strongest candidate for Senate because of her commitment to protecting middle class and working families by creating good paying jobs and expanding access to job training and education,” said Greg Christy, Business Manager of Iron Workers Local Union 3. “In the Senate, Katie will be an excellent advocate for hardworking Pennsylvanians and families across the nation. She is the right choice for U.S. Senate.”
“I am honored to have the endorsement of Iron Workers Local Union,” McGinty said. “I have seen firsthand how organizations like the Iron Workers expand opportunity for their members through apprenticeships, job training, and tireless advocacy for fair treatment. As Senator, I will continue to stand with workers to support rebuilding our infrastructure, create good-jobs, and expand opportunity for working and middle class families across our Commonwealth.”
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34 Responses
Major computer problems have kept me away for a while. I see David Diano is still ranting and raving against Joe Sestak. Some things never change. I see he is at least now calling Bernie Sanders “credible.” I seem to recall him singing a different tune about Bernie. He was derisive about both Bernie and his candidacy not very long ago. I think he even called his supporters delusional.
steventodd-
We’ve had our debates regarding Sestak, and I understand your support of him. I regret that I’ve been unable to show you the side of him you haven’t seen.
Billy and Barty-
I’m looking forward to seing the Q4 numbers as well.
Billy – Wolf, having worked with her and seen her through the campaign, thinking that she was an impressive person who was fit to help run his general election campaign, build a cabinet, and organize an office would be a perfectly reasonable theory as to why he picked her. In fact, anyone who wasn’t so corrupted from working in and around politics would assume as much. You may disagree with that, which is fine, but that is still rational explanation.
Everyone on here is convinced you are a campaign shill for Fetterman, which seems to fit in line with your general tone around these things and lack of comments on anything that does not concern the Senate race. But your tone about McGinty is toxic and presents the same problem that the current Sanders rhetoric does for the Clinton candidacy; will you vote for her if she wins the primary? Will you work to help get her elected and remove Toomey, an rightwing ideologue in the purest sense?
I happen to support McGinty, met her in ’14 and was very impressed. But if Fetterman or Sestak wins (though I really hope against the latter since I don’t think he’s a great candidate), I will lace up my boots and knock on my neighbors doors for them all summer and fall. Can you say the same? Or are you just a raw young campaign kid who thinks he’s found the only answer to solve all of our problems?
Barty Crouch, I happen to agree that McGinty was a spoiler for the Democratic primary.
Nothing else explains why Wolf tried to get her to head up the state party, and when that didn’t work out, made her his chief of staff AND handed her $100,000 to retire a campaign loan she made to herself.
That said, anyone who knows Fetterman knows he’s the real deal and plans to win. You would be hard pressed to find two weaker candidates than McGinty and Sestak who are also just happen to be splitting the Philly vote.
steventodd, I would sincerely encourage you to look into Fetterman more. (And Sestak as well…)
Fetterman was just about the only PA elected official to go against Hillary and back Obama in 2008. I don’t think Fetterman is looking to ride anyone’s coattails. He does what he thinks is right. Just like when he performed one of the first gay marriages a few years ago when it was still illegal in PA. I can’t imagine Joe or Katie or many other politicians sticking their necks out like that for what is right.
Mr. Bumpkin, there’s no conspiracy. Assuming you are lamenting Allyson’s loss in 2014, remember that Schwartz was a crap gubernatorial candidate who didn’t work outside of the southeast. Stop blaming someone else when Wolf just dominated. Same deal here, Sestak is not getting spoiled by an establishment plant. He has a rival for the anti-establishment title because he is a crap candidate too. Once we see the Fetterman and Sestak fundraising numbers for Q4 we will have a sense where this is going. McGinty’s number is good but not insurmountable yet.
@McGinty’s and @DD:
I am a Sanders supporter who backs Sestak over Fetterman. So there’s one.
I am not aware of very many active Fetterman supporters among our TheBern ranks.
Most of TheBern’s supporters seem to be here solely for TheBern, but I would easily put Sestak as most popular among us. No data, no links, just by hanging with them for the past half a year or so.
Fetterman is a great guy, but he can’t catch up on TV buy ability now. If he was going to endorse a POTUS candidate, he should have done so much earlier. He will grab some of TheBern’s coattails, but he will not grab enough. The most he will do is spoil against Joe and for Katie.
Could Fetterman be part of the machine, a spoiler like McGinty was the machine supported spoiler, in the gubernatorial election?
McGinty’s revolving door to $$
That is very weird that you know anyone who likes Sanders (authentic) and Sestak (non-authentic).
Sounds like they don’t have a f*cking clue about what a phony Sestak is.
Observer #2. Your new name fools no one. The one and only true Sestak lover left in PA.
I meant to say, among those currently supporting Hillary in my area, nearly all, perhaps 90%, also support Joe Sestak. My point is, in my area, Joe Sestak gets widespread support from both Bernie voters and Hillary voters. Also, in my area, in the party and among acquaintances I know, Bernie is getting much more support than Clinton. I know of no one supporting Fetterman, although there must be someone, statistically speaking, that does. It is clearly a Sestak-Sanders vote here, in my area. As I also stated, our observations (yours and mine) do not constitute a scientific sample.
McGinty’s revolving door to $$-
You must live in a weird place.
The progressives I know like Bernie and Fetterman (and most know that Sestak is a tool and a fake progressive).
90% support Sestak? That isn’t even true among his staff.
I would love for this site to do a report on the District Judges in Pa. Do you know that after 1 term they get a Pension for the rest of their life.. They also don’t have to have any schooling other then a high school degree. $80,000 Their pension is 80,000 for the rest of their life. Yes 100% of their pay plus FULL healthcare and Dental
This is whats wrong. She is one of those people that has never had a “real” job and has sucked off taxpayers for her whole Life. Also why do people always vote to Retain Judges when they are up for Retention? Then they complain about them all year but we always put them right back in office. Lets clean House and start giving New people a chance to screw us.
1) In my own community I have yet to find a Fetterman supporter. 2) Bernie would never endorse anyone for Senate—why should he get involved. 3) The overwhelming majority and the core of the party in my area supports Sestak and Bernie. 4) A few support Hillary, but 90% also support Sestak! My area does not a case make, but I know what is happening here, within the party and among acquaintances. 5) I hope Fetterman sticks around and gets involved in politics in the future, but to waste a vote on him now would be WASTING a vote. 6) Guess we’ll all have to wait for some evidence before any of us continue making predictions based on our own small samples.
McGinty’s revolving door to $$-
Good luck finding Sanders supporters that back Sestak over Fetterman. It will get harder when Bernie voters become aware of Fetterman and Sestak’s continue to boast about his connection to Bill Clinton.
Endorsement of Fetterman by Bernie would send shock waves.
MontcoPADem:
Your equation makes no sense. You are saying Hillary supporters don’t support Sestak and Sanders supporters don’t support Sestak. Both Hillary AND Bernie supporters support Sestak, take a poll. Better yet, try drawing a Venn Diagram based on your wild assertions. C’mon, dude, you can reason better than this.
Bernie will still be an active candidate by the time the PA primary comes up in April. So in effect, the primary will be a Sanders-Fetterman vs. Clinton-McGinty battle. Sestak could very well finish third. Maybe Joe will endorse O’Malley and they can finish third together.
jmarshak-
The Republicans have opposed some of their OWN ideas, just because Obama adopted and agreed with them. That’s bad.
Toomey is an ultra-conservative with the wrong values on the economy, diplomacy and civil rights. McGinty going along with the majority of the Dems will not thrill me with every vote, but will be a damn sight better than Toomey in helping the country and Pennsylvania.
I haven’t said McGinty is smart, brilliant or any similar praise. Rather, I’ve pointed out to those questioning her intelligence, that intelligence is not needed, hence my repeated references to training a monkey to press the right button on votes.
NO Senator (no votes) would be better than Toomey. So, Katie would be an improvement over Toomey even if she never showed up for work. That’s how low the bar is.
LostinPA-
You must be a Republican not to understand that this was the best/only endorsement Fetterman could make. The Bernie supporters (and there are a lot) will have in him a candidate who shares their values. Without Fetterman’s endorsement of Bernie, he might not have gotten on their radar.
PA Expat-
Exactly.
LostinPA – how is it a boneheaded move for Fetterman make a direct appeal to Sanders voters? Ideologically, they would be the demographic most inclined to volunteer, contribute, and vote for Fetterman.
In reality, Fetterman’s move makes perfect sense. It’s well calculated to make him more visible and get the best result possible in the primary, maybe even win if lightning strikes at the right time…
Just another loser of the Wolfpack. Pay attention to all the reassignments of the Wolfpack..
If you first don’t succeed, because you have no skills, don’t worry, Wolfpack will get you another job you have no skills for.
Oh DD…
How many times have you guys on the left called Republicans stupid and racist for just opposing everything Obama wants and not having any ideas of their own? Now along comes Katie McGinty, who has yet to put forth an original thought and is building her entire campaign around “I’m a girl” and “I’ll do the opposite of everything Pat Toomey is doing.” And you think she’s brilliant.
Whoever advised Fetterman to endorse Sanders publicly at this point should lose their job. Although it’s not hard to place those two in the same basket it was an absolutely boneheaded move to do so.
McGinty’s revolving door to $$-
Sestak isn’t Obi-Wan. Sestak is our only misanthrope.
Fetterman is politically/ideologically in the Bernie camp as it is. Fetterman promoting Hillary over Bernie would have been un-authentic.
Actually.. did Sestak ever intend to win, or is he up to something else? Lobbying, perhaps? Hoping the administration would buy him off with the appointment he wanted?
Sestak is the only hope for beating Toomey. Toomey will make toast out of McGinty and Fetterman is too new and underfunded to do much. Fetterman attaching himself to Bernie just lost the Hillary voters. Duh!! And, does Fetterman really believe Bernie voters will go to him just because HE likes Bernie and wants to ride on Bernie’s substantial coattails here in PA? Dems want to WIN the Senate race, and Fetterman is not going to win the primary, so I’d imagine most Dems will stick with Sestak or McGinty and not take a chance on wasting a vote on Fetterman. So, the question is: did Fetterman ever intend to win, or is he up to something else?? In the end, Sestak will likely prevail and then Toomey will have a real contest on his hands.
Observer-
A toadie who votes the opposite of Toomey will do.
KM is the Hillary of the senate race – a corporate toadie who happens to be a woman. There is already a toadie in this race: Toomey.
Fetterman did really well on the Nightly Show last night – I don’t know of that spit-take was real or rehearsed, but it was excellent.
Let’s see. Katie has raised 2 million in 1.5 quarters. Sestak has raised that much in 5 years. Hmm…
Fetterman was on Larry Whitmore last night. That should put him on the national progressive radar, and help for the next 3 months until the Primary.
According to the article, $600,000 of Sestak’s $2.4 cash is earmarked for the General election. So, Sestak’s cash on hand for the Primary is $1.8 million plus whatever he picked up the last quarter.
In 2010, Sestak was able to transfer $4.5 million from his congressional account. He doesn’t have access to anything like that this time. Once the unions start kicking in money/resources to back up their endorsements, Katie should be a good shape.
WhatDoIKnow
You have to wait until the report for the buys, but (beside sunflower seeds) it could be advanced purchases of media air time and commercials that have already been filmed.
Also, the campaign would need to start setting up offices, get computer equipment, hire staff, etc. So, those are start-up expenses.
In his 3rd quarter report, Sestak spent about $40,000 in the first weeks of July for office space, and renovation work on that space, plus utilities. I’ve yet to see a campaign “grand opening” announcement for the office. Sestak’s burn rate has been fairly high in recent reports, which is surprising considering how tight he is. Also, has Sestak hired any professional campaign staff, to guide the inexperienced worker-bees he has? It takes money to get the honey.
Harvey Taylor-
“Can anyone explain what Katie has done that demonstrates a “her commitment to protecting middle class and working families by creating good paying jobs and expanding access to job training and education,”
Yes. Vote the opposite of Toomey. A monkey could do the job if it were told the right button to press. In Katie’s case, the ONLY expectation is that she presses the same button as a majority of the Senate Dems. My preference would be a monkey trained to press the same button as Elizabeth Warren, but that’s too much to hope for.
Katie’s twitter feed is pretty much “Vote for me cause I’m a girl!”
Montco PA Dem, based on Katie’s burn rate, I think you must be one of many paid staffers.
It’s nice that you ignore my points though, it just shows what a paper thin candidate McGinty is. Take away Rendell, and she’s back at 7% just like in the Gov Primary.
McGinty should really just go back to collecting millions of dollars from the energy sector thanks to the public to private pipeline.
They’ve already reserved and purchased a tremendous amount of future air time for TV ads hence the burn rate.
Harvey, if you’re going to earn your money, you need to make your posts here look a little less professional. I know you’re trying to fan the flames of that stupid non-story, but it’s not working. Maybe go back and consult with the other “common folks” at hq and try to manufacture a different trumped-up tale to spin.
Can anyone explain what Katie has done that demonstrates a “her commitment to protecting middle class and working families by creating good paying jobs and expanding access to job training and education,” ”
All I’ve seen is her taking million dollar payouts from the energy sector and bailing on her job as Chief of Staff after 6 months on the job in the middle of the budget crisis.
She’s so out of touch with us common folks, she had to plant a staffer at a fabricated “diner” tour event to give her single-mother talking points.
http://www.pghcitypaper.com/PolitiCrap/archives/2016/01/12/sen-pat-toomeys-campaign-alleges-that-democratic-candidate-katie-mcginty-planted-a-staffer-at-campaign-stop-in-pittsburgh
Not sure why this story wasn’t covered here.
Gee, that doesn’t sound too good. Yes, she raised a good amount – but that means she burned through $700k in 3 months, without doing any TV. What did they spend all that money on – Mike Mikus’s sunflower seed habit? That’s really a lot of cash to go through. Very concerning. This will make people pause before giving more money to her. Say what you will about Sestak – the guy is tight with a dollar to the extreme and it may pay off in the end. I bet his burn rate for the quarter is $64.18.