They may not attract the $150 million that the U.S. Senate contest is likely to cost, but the pair of races for Congress in Western Pennsylvania — especially for U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb’s soon-to-be-former seat — won’t be cheap.
Indicative of the high-stakes nature of races for federal government at a time when the economy is struggling and Congress considers a number of hot-button issues, the contests for the 12th and 17th districts — both under newly drawn district boundaries — are attracting money from all over the country.
In the 17th District race to succeed Mr. Lamb, Democrat Chris Deluzio raised more than twice as much money from individuals and committees than his opponent, Republican Jeremy Shaffer, from late April to the end of June, according to recent campaign finance filings with the Federal Election Commission.
Mr. Deluzio, an Iraq War veteran who emerged as a go-to expert on election reform in recent years as part of his role at Pitt Cyber, brought in $419,000 in contributions. Mr. Shaffer, a former Ross commissioner and business leader, raised $200,000 and gave his own campaign an additional $500,000, contributing to his cash-on-hand advantage at the end of the second quarter.
Mr. Shaffer, who has loaned his campaign $1 million so far this cycle, enters the general election matchup with $937,000 at his disposal; Mr. Deluzio has $348,000 in his campaign account.
Cook Political Report, which handicaps races for the House and Senate, rates the 17th District contest as a toss-up. National groups from both political parties have shown interest in the race as a battleground.
In the 12th District, which includes most of Pittsburgh and is rated “likely Democratic” by Cook, Democratic state Rep. Summer Lee raised more than eight times as much as Republican Mike Doyle, a Plum Borough councilman, from late April to the end of June. Her haul — $341,000 — has left her with $334,000 on hand entering general election season. Mr. Doyle has just $14,000.
Ms. Lee, Mr. Deluzio and Mr. Shaffer faced contested primaries in May, and huge chunks of their spending and fundraising were deployed in the lead-up to the intraparty election. Mr. Doyle — who isn’t related to U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, who’s retiring from the seat — did not face an opponent in the primary.
The 17th District race has attracted a decent amount of money from political committees as both candidates gear up for a close contest.
Mr. Deluzio raised $77,000 from PACs in the time frame, including:
• $5,000 from Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, which aims to elect progressive Democrats and is co-chaired by U.S. Reps. Mark Pocan, Pramila Jayapal and Jamie Raskin.
• $5,000 from VoteVets Federal PAC, which gives to veteran political candidates who will “lift up the voices of veterans” on national security, veterans’ care and everyday issues.
Mr. Shaffer’s political committee haul, totaling $67,000, came from a list including:
• $5,000 from Congressional Leadership Fund, the PAC dedicated to winning a GOP majority in Congress, endorsed by Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
• $10,000 from Majority Committee PAC, half given for the primary and half for the general, to help Republicans take back the House and focus on “holding Nancy Pelosi accountable,” according to the group’s social media.
Mr. Shaffer also got $5,000 from the National Republican Congressional Committee, the main campaign arm of the House GOP.
Broken down by donor amount, Mr. Deluzio raised $52,000 from those who gave less than $200, while Mr. Shaffer pulled in $14,000. From those who gave $200 or more in one swoop or in aggregate, Mr. Deluzio’s haul was at $290,000; Mr. Shaffer’s checked in at $114,000.
Mr. Shaffer spent more than twice as much as his Democratic opponent in the quarter. Both faced contested primaries. The biggest chunk of Mr. Shaffer’s spending — excluding items like salary, payroll taxes and credit card transaction fees — was $74,000 used in the leadup to the primary to pay Creative Direct, a Richmond, Va.-based agency, for printing and postage.
Mr. Deluzio spent more than $47,000 on primary buys with Deliver Strategies, a direct mail consultant that works with Democrats to reach voters.
The campaign finance reports for the 12th District show, once again, the highly competitive nature of the Democratic primary, in which Ms. Lee just edged out Pittsburgh attorney Steve Irwin, who was backed by the region’s Democratic establishment.
Ms. Lee pulled in $58,000 from committees, including:
• $5,000 from Courage to Change, affiliated with U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
• $5,000 from Jane Fonda Climate PAC, which the esteemed actor says is intended to “defeat fossil fuels supporters and elect climate champions at all levels of government.”
Approximately $149,000 of Ms. Lee’s donations were from people who gave less than $200.
Her biggest buy came during the primary, when she spent $106,000 for TV advertising with Bryson Gillette LLC, a minority-owned public affairs firm based out of Los Angeles. She made several other buys with the agency in April and May.
Julian Routh: jrouth@post-gazette.com.
First Published: July 25, 2022, 10:00 a.m.
Updated: July 25, 2022, 10:22 a.m.
