McCormick, Casey announce big campaign hauls in U.S. Senate race

Rivals in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race raised roughly $10 million combined in the past three months, setting the stage this year for yet another huge influx of cash into a legislative race in the Keystone State.

In 2022, the clash for an open Senate seat drew more than $400 million in spending to Pennsylvania, marking the country’s second-highest tally for a Senate race that year after Georgia. And, in 2016, the $179 million spent in Pennsylvania set a spending record at the time, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets, a nonproft that tracks campaign spending.

Recent campaign updates by Democrat Bob Casey, the incumbent, and his challenger, Republican Dave McCormick, show the spending trend in Pennsylvania appears to be continuing unabated.

McCormick of Squirrel Hill announced Monday his campaign raised $5.4 million in the fourth quarter of last year. McCormick launched his campaign in late September.

The former hedge fund CEO contributed $1 million of his personal wealth to the campaign, bringing the quarter’s haul to $6.4 million, the biggest single-quarter tally so far in the current Senate race.

McCormick campaign manager Matt Gruda said McCormick has “earned support of Pennsylvanians from all walks of life” and garnered more than 15,000 individual donors who contributed to the $5.4 million figure.

The campaign claimed the total exceeded the amount brought in during any quarter over Casey’s most recent tenure.

Casey said he raised $3.6 million in the last quarter, his third straight quarter raising more than $3 million.

In the third quarter of last year, Casey raised $3.2 million and brought in a personal-best $4 million in the second quarter.

The Casey campaign said over 36,000 donors contributed in the fourth quarter, and 92% of the contributions were under $100.

Tiernan Donohue, Casey’s campaign manager, said it shows Casey is growing grassroots momentum.

According to the most recent campaign finance disclosure, Casey had about $7.4 million cash on hand at the end of September.

It’s unclear how much cash McCormick has on hand since fourth-quarter disclosures have not been made public yet. The year-end campaign finance filing deadline for federal races is Jan. 31.

Casey, a Scranton native and Pennsylvania’s senior senator, has served in that position since 2007.

McCormick ran for senate in 2022 but lost a close Republican primary election to celebrity surgeon Mehmet Oz, who eventually lost to U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Braddock.

Patel brings in more than $300K

Democratic Congressional candidate Bhavini Patel announced this week she raised more than $310,000 in the fourth quarter for her race against incumbent U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale.

Patel, 29 of Edgewood, launched her campaign in October in the state’s 12th Congressional District, which includes Pittsburgh, eastern Allegheny County suburbs, the Mon Valley and Westmoreland County communities such as Murrysville, North Huntingdon, Penn Township, Sewickley Township, Jeannette and parts of Hempfield.

She serves as an Edgewood councilwoman and said the donations showcase her campaign’s growing support among labor unions and Pennsylvania residents.

Patel said 69% of her donors were Pennsylvanians and nearly two-thirds of the donations were less than $250 each.

“This diverse coalition of donors, including grassroots supporters, local residents, and labor unions, is a testament to the shared commitment we have towards building a brighter future for our community,” she said.

As of the end of the third quarter, Patel had about $20,000 cash on hand.

Lee has yet to announce her fourth quarter fundraising totals. As of the third quarter, she had more than $253,000 cash on hand.