Big donors give more in state race
HARRISBURG – Some of the biggest donors to Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial candidates stretched their wallets to help pony up nearly $18 million over the summer, according to campaign finance reports filed Tuesday that show the race appears likely to set a campaign spending record.
Total campaign spending surpassed $62 million, including spending by the three unsuccessful candidates in the four-way Democratic Party primary in May. So far, the 2002 gubernatorial election remains the most expensive in state history. It was just shy of $70 million in overall spending, with Democrat Ed Rendell unloading most of that to beat then-Auditor General Bob Casey in the primary and then-Attorney General Mike Fisher in the general election.
The campaigns of Republican Gov. Tom Corbett and Democratic challenger Tom Wolf had more than $10 million in cash to spend heading into the campaign’s final seven weeks. Wolf will head into the home stretch with a $1.7 million cash edge as he tries to break a four-decade tradition of governors winning a second term.
The election is Nov. 4. The deadline for the latest reports was Tuesday.
Corbett’s biggest donor to date, the Republican Governors Association, contributed $4 million more – about half of what Corbett raised during the three months ending Sept. 15 – to bring its total commitment to him to $5.8 million. John Templeton, a conservative activist from the Philadelphia suburbs, pitched in $400,000 more, bringing his total contribution to $820,000.
Wolf received nearly $2.9 million from labor unions – pushing their total contributions to $4.5 million – and $1 million from Thomas Grumbacher, the chairman of the Bon-Ton department store chain who had already given him just over $1.1 million.
For the period, Wolf’s campaign reported raising about $9.6 million and spending more than $6.2 million, leaving it with almost $6.5 million in cash. Corbett’s campaign reported raising and spending just over $8 million, leaving it with almost $4.8 million in cash.
The results of the campaigns’ fundraising and spending mean that Corbett raised less than Wolf but spent more while failing to crack a hefty lead in independent polls that Wolf has held since he won the May primary.
The new figures bring Corbett’s total to nearly $25 million raised and nearly $20 million spent. Wolf reported raising nearly $28 million, including at least $11 million from himself and his family, and spending just over $21 million.
Most of the money was spent on TV ads the campaigns began running in July. Two outside groups also aided Wolf with their own TV ads attacking Corbett in July.