Newly filed campaign finance reports suggest that the top three Democrats running to replace retiring Congressman Mike Doyle began the year with the means to wage robust campaigns — and the last of them to announce his run weighed in with the largest numbers for fundraising in the last three months of the year.
Steve Irwin, a Squirrel HIll attorney who has long been active in civic causes racked up $337,980.84 since jumping into the race in early November — the largest quarterly total to date for any candidate in the race. According to campaign-finance reports due Monday, he spent $41,999 of that last year, but started 2022 with $295,981.84 in the bank.
Irwin’s support came almost entirely from individuals who gave in amounts of over $200. They include some highly familiar names, among them previous Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, former eastern Pennsylvania Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz, and Pittsburgh Democratic lawyer Cliff Levine.
“Western Pennsylvanians want a Congressperson who can get things done and I’m honored for their faith in me and our campaign,” Irwin said in a mid-January statement previewing his support.
Irwin’s total is boosted to some extent by the fact that some contributors have already given more than federal law allows Irwin to spend in the primary. Some $26,680 he has raised already can’t be used until the general election cycle, in a district where the next representative is likely to be decided in the Democratic primary. And nearly three dozen of his donors have already given as much as they can to his primary effort.
Still, it is an impressive debut for Irwin, and he posted the top 4th quarter fundraising totals even subtracting the amount of money frozen until after the primary. That support was bolstered Monday by his being endorsed by a PAC tied to Democratic Majority for Israel, which supports US military aid and other forms of support for Israel and opposes efforts to impose economic sanctions on the country for its treatment of Palestinians.
State Rep. Summer Lee also reported blistering numbers in her first campaign-finance report since launching her bid in October. Lee raised $272,512.02, and if the total dollar amount was somewhat smaller than Irwin’s, her campaign argues that her support was broader. Roughly 36% of her contributions came in small-dollar amounts of under $200 — the rate for Irwin was 3% — and the campaign says it had over 4,000 donors make contributions during the period.
“I knew when I launched this campaign for Congress that I wouldn’t have the greatest access to wealthy donors and that I’d never take corporate PAC funding,” Lee said in a statement. “What we have instead is our community. With over four thousand grassroots contributions, it’s clear that this community is stepping up in a meaningful way to make sure this people-powered campaign is ready.”
Lee spent $71,400.34 last year, and started 2022 with $201,111.68. That trails Irwin, but Lee arguably has room to grow even with the donors who’ve already supported her: Fewer than 20 have maxed out their ability to donate to her during the primary.
And that donor list includes a number of familiar progressive names in southwestern Pennsylvania, including police-reform activist Brandi Fisher and longtime progressive donor Janet Anti. It also includes Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s campaign committee and a handful of members of his administration, including deputy mayor Jake Pawlak and chief of staff Jake Wheatley.
Lee’s biggest donor is the Justice Democrats PAC, whose leadership sprung from Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign. The group has often been at odds in Democratic primary fights with DMFI PAC, the pro-Israel group that supported Irwin today.
Jerry Dickinson, the University of Pittsburgh law professor who was the first to enter the race – and in fact was seeking Doyle’s seat even before Doyle decided to retire – reported a more modest $120,108.97 in campaign contributions in the final quarter of 2021. Dickinson’s campaign spent nearly all of that money – $119,511.06 – in the same period. But Dickinson began campaigning last spring and raised over $450,000 in 2021. He spent nearly $300,000 of that over the course of the year but began 2022 with $158,606.12 in the bank.
All of Dickinson’s support has come from individual donors, and Dickinson’s contributors in the final quarter included a number of fellow lawyers from around the region and beyond.
“Our continued fundraising success is a testament to the enthusiasm surrounding this historic campaign,” Dickinson said. “Since first announcing my candidacy nine months ago, we’ve received support from people in Pittsburgh, and all over the United States, who are excited about the prospect of a bold progressive congressperson in Western Pennsylvania.”
Campaign finance data for Stephanie Fox, who entered the race quietly last year, had not been posted by press time Monday evening. Another candidate who has entered the race, Bhavini Patel, did not assemble a campaign team until the new year, and was not required to file a report for 2021.
