WASHINGTON (TNS) — U.S. Sen. Bob Casey has raised more than twice as much money as he did six years ago, but is being outspent in his quest for a fourth term by a super PAC supporting Republican challenger David McCormick.
Casey, D-Pa., reported raising $47.8 million through Sept. 30 — more than double the $21.8 million he took in for his 2018 re-election campaign — and spending $45.4 million.
That gave him a fundraising advantage over McCormick, a former hedge fund CEO, who raised $21.6 million and pumped $4.4 million of his own money into the campaign.
But a pro-McCormick super PAC, Keystone Renewal, raised $49.3 million and spent $$48.4 million on behalf of the Republican nominee. Kenneth Griffin, a hedge fund manager and investor who is the third-biggest donor in the 2024 elections according to the research group OpenSecrets, contributed $5 million to the super PAC. Elizabeth Uihlein, who with her husband Richard own the shipping and packing company Uline and are the fourth biggest donors in 2024, gave $1 million. The Republican Jewish Coalition also donated $1 million to the super PAC.
Both candidates also have been helped by the political arms of the Senate Democrats and Republicans and their affiliated super political action committees, according to the research group OpenSecrets.
McCormick received financial support from the Senate Republican-aligned super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, which spent $34.4 million on the race; and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which spent $2.5 million.
The Senate Democrats’ political arm spent $10 million to help Casey, who polls show is now statistically tied with McCormick after holding a solid lead earlier in the summer. WinSenate, funded by the Senate Democratic-aligned Senate Majority Fund super PAC, spent more than $40 million on behalf of Mr. Casey, most of it on negative advertising targeting McCormick, according to OpenSecrets.
In southwestern Pennsylvania’s only competitive House race, U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Aspinwall, maintains a significant fundraising advantage over state Rep. Rob Mercuri, R-Pine. Deluzio is rated as a slight favorite to keep the seat in Democratic hands, and neither the House Republicans’ political arm nor their super PAC have spent any significant money behalf of the GOP challenger, according to the filings — though House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., recently stumped for Mr. Mercuri.
Through Sept. 30, Deluzio raised $4.5 million — more than his entire 2022 campaign — and spent $2.8 million. He entered the final six weeks of the campaign with $1.7 million in the bank — almost three times the $635,012 Mercuri had to spend. Mercuri raised $1.6 million and spent $970,958 through the end of September.
In the last three months, Deluzio raised $1.5 million to Mercuri’s $510,524. A member of the House Transportation Committee, Deluzio took in more than a quarter of his third-quarter political action committee contributions from PACs representing transportation interests and their lobbyists. He received donations of $3,299 from Robert Rubin, treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton; and from Roger Altman, former deputy treasury secretary under Jimmy Carter.
Mercuri received $2,000 campaign donations from House Speaker Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton. He also received the maximum $3,300 contribution from New York Jets owner Woody Johnson and from Fred Smith, executive chair and founder of FedEx.
