Search
Close this search box.

Q3 Fundraising: Winners and Losers

Keith Rothfus

The numbers are in. Here are the PA congressional candidates who rose and fell this quarter.

The third quarter is candidates’ final chance to show that they’re the real deal and have the resources to compete. That’s vitally important to their broader strategic goal of attracting outside attention and help.

The reporting period includes July, August and September. It does not reflect funds raised or expenditures made on Oct. 1 or later. And indeed, sometimes campaigns will hold back on paying big bills until just after the deadline so they can show strength.

Winners:

Keith Rothfus (R-Allegheny, PA-12). This attorney and top tier challenger to Rep. Mark Critz once again outraised the incumbent, albeit by just $43,000. He raised $543K. His down side? He also spent over $1 million – about twice as much as Critz – and has just $170K on hand. Critz has $364K. Why spend so much before October? Because he knew he had to move the numbers early in order to secure the outside spending help he needs. And he has.

Manan Trivedi (D-Berks, PA-6). Trivedi, facing Rep. Jim Gerlach for the second time in as many years, is the only Democratic challenger to have raised more than his opponent. He brought in $424K to Gerlach’s 334K. However, Gerlach had $728K on hand to Trivedi’s $283K – neither enough to make a serious dent on TV.

Scott Perry (R-York, PA-4). It’s not that he raised the 8th most of any candidate in Pa. (and more than Rep. Allyson Schwartz) – it’s that he doesn’t need any of it. He’s a prohibitive favorite in the open seat race against Dem Harry Perkinson to replace Rep. Todd Platts (R-York). The real story is that Perry has the discipline to be a strong fundraiser, an important first step to climbing the ranks in DC – as it looks like he wants to do.

Tim Murphy (R-Allegheny, PA-18). It wasn’t Murphy’s best quarters, but the Congressman brought in $281K. The real reason he’s a winner is his cash on hand: $1.1 million. More than enough to finish his race strong and avoid being an upset.

Pat Meehan (R-Delaware, PA-7). He raised $406K and has $1.4 million on hand, meaning on Jan. 1, 2013, he’ll begin the 2014 cycle with a $1 million head start.

Losers

Larry Maggi (D-Washington, PA-18). Unlike the other DCCC-recognized candidates, Maggi’s fundraising dropped off this quarter. He brought in $132K, significantly less than the $204K he raised last time. He showed just $198K on hand, which doesn’t include money he’s already spent since October. It’s hard to sustain a big ad buy with that. Why the dropoff? Most likely, they didn’t have their own internal numbers that could sufficiently rebut Murphy’s, which show the Republican up 34 points.

George Badey (D-Delaware, PA-7). He brought in $180K – paltry in Philadelphia market terms, and has $260K on hand. The problem is, hasn’t spent enough (just over $200K) to have effectively combated Meehan’s advantage, and it doesn’t look like he will be able to. As a comparison, Joe Sestak raised $1.14 million and had $1.53 million on hand at the end of the third quarter the year he beat an GOP incumbent in this district.

Gene Stilp (D-Dauphin, PA-11) and Karen Ramsburg (D-Franklin, PA-9). We couldn’t look at the reports from these two because they sent them via mail, rather than online, and they haven’t been processed yet. Want to help write policy for the United States of America? Use the internet.

Here’s the under $25,000 cash on hand club:

Robert Mansfield (R-Phila, PA-2), challenging Rep. Chaka Fattah: $1,054
John Featherman (R-Phila, PA-1), challenging Rep. Bob Brady: $2,375
Rick Daugherty (D-Lehigh, PA-15), challenging Rep. Charlie Dent: $7,312
Harry Perkinson (D-York, PA-4), vs. Scott Perry: $9,276
Laureen Cummings (R-Lackawanna), v. Matt Cartwright: $9,829
Aryanna Strader (D-Chester, PA-16), challenging Rep. Joe Pitts: $10,033
Joe Rooney (R-Montco, PA-13), challenging Rep. Allyson Schwartz: $11,246
Hans Lessman (R-Allegheny, PA-14), challenging Rep. Mike Doyle: $12,275
Charles Dumas (D-Centre, PA-5), challenging Rep. GT Thompson: $12,377
Missa Eaton (D-Mercer, PA-3), challenging Rep. Mike Kelly: $16,923

Here’s the full spreadsheet:

3 Responses

  1. I will never be able to compete with my opponent Bill Shuster’s war chest–millions in SuperPAC from corporations. He appears to be the most popular alright and yet votes against working America 93% of the time. His policies have destroyed the middle-class. Is that the best we can do? Why not write an article about real people candidates with real solutions to the problems that ails our nation.

Email:
  • Do you agree that ByteDance should be forced to divest TikTok?


    • Yes. It's a national security risk. (60%)
    • No. It's an app used by millions and poses no threat. (40%)
    • What's ByteDance? (0%)

    Total Voters: 30

    Loading ... Loading ...
Continue to Browser

PoliticsPA

To install tap and choose
Add to Home Screen