Shamokin News Item
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tom Smith raised more money than Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in the first 2½ weeks of this month and held a substantial edge in how much both campaigns had left as they headed into the last three weeks before the election.
In the three local congressional races, the incumbent Republicans in the 10th and 11th Congressional Districts and the Democrat running in the 17th maintained healthy fundraising levels.
Smith raised $700,269 between Oct. 1 and 17, bringing his total take for the campaign to more than $20.3 million, almost $16.5 million of that his own money. He had $2.93 million left.
Casey raised $447,646, meaning he has raised almost $12.7 million, almost all of it from contributors. He had almost $2.22 million left.
Jim Conroy, Smith’s campaign manager, portrayed the latest fundraising reports as signs of Casey’s “crumbling support.”
“Tom Smith’s reform message is clearly motivating Pennsylvanians who have grown tired of a polarized do-nothing Congress,” Conroy wrote in an email.
But Larry Smar, Casey’s campaign manager, said Smith’s fundraising advantage stems only from his ability to put a lot of his own money into the race.
“This is a guy who isn’t getting grassroots support in Pennsylvania,” he said. “We’ll have enough resources to get our message out. Obviously, we don’t have a personal fortune.”
In the 10th Congressional District, Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Marino raised another $41,931, lifting his total to $823,049. He had $37,883 left.
Democrat Phil Scollo raised another $16,315, giving him a total of $160,401, a fifth of Marino’s total but a far better performance than earlier this year. Scollo had $15,008 left.
In the 11th Congressional District, Republican Rep. Lou Barletta, raised $47,089, pushing his total to $1,238,540. He had $353,007 left.
Though the filing deadline was Thursday, Democrat Gene Stilp’s latest report was unavailable. Through Sept. 30, he had raised $68,092 overall. He reported different levels of cash remaining on different lines in this report – $13,570 and $27,884 – though both lines should be the same.
The Federal Election Commission recently cited Stilp for failing to file his third-quarter campaign finance report electronically. All of Stilp’s reports have been handwritten.
In the 17th Congressional District, Democratic attorney Matt Cartwright raised another $31,606, which means he has raised almost $1.24 million, $400,000 of that his own money. Efforts to obtain a report for his opponent, Republican Laureen Cummings, were unsuccessful.
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