For Meehan, the first obstacle is going from state money rules to federal

Former U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan had raised a solid $800,000 toward his gubernatorial campaign, campaign insiders say, before switching gears and deciding to run for Congress instead.

How much of that he can use now remains an open question.

For Meehan’s political team, which spent Monday rolling out his 7th Congressional District announcement, one of the first challenges is getting whatever money it can out of a state campaign committee while also establishing a legal firewall between the old committee and the new federal campaign committee. And all the while, Meehan’s early fundraising success will be tested by federal campaign finance laws that are far more stringent than Pennsylvania state law. Whereas there are no caps on individual contributions in the Keystone State, federal races allow only $2,400 for the primary and $2,400 more for the general election.

Meehan’s state committee can refund money to donors and ask that any amount up to that $4,800 total be recommitted.

“A lot of folks have already volunteered to do that,” said Vince Galko, a top political adviser to Meehan. “Most folks want to help Pat.”

Meehan’s campaign finance director, Christine Thomas, said about 1,000 donors had contributed, giving Meehan a relatively deep pool from which the draw.

“We’re going through all that right now,” Galko said. “The bulk of the [donations] were under [$4,800].”

But the state committee is not obligated to return the funds. They can be spread around to other campaigns. With no required public filing due until the end of the year, it will be a few months before a full picture of how the committee winds down its finances emerges. And as Galko pointed out, “we ran a campaign for a year, so a lot of it has been spent.” He estimated that about $350,000 remains.

The limit on individual contributions will be a big test of Meehan’s fundraising acumen, as he is forced to expand his donor base. In the meantime, the nascent Congressional campaign has taken moves to sever any ties with the state committee, Meehan for Pennsylvania. Meehan himself stepped down as the committee’s chairman recently, and donor lists, contact lists and other campaign data can only be used by the Congressional campaign if purchased from the state committee. Meehan for Pennsylvania is now chaired by Alan Novak, a longtime friend of Meehan’s and a colleague from the Conrad O’Brien law firm.

“We’re taking all the necessary steps to put that legal wall in place,” Galko said.