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CAMPAIGN FINANCE ROUNDUP: Onorato, Corbett still in the lead (Updated)

Deadline day for gubernatorial candidates to submit the first of two pre-primary campaign finance reports came and went without much surprise.

We’re still sorting through the documents we have and awaiting release of other reports, but here’s a basic rundown of where things stand.

Democrat Dan Onorato and Republican Tom Corbett continue to hold commanding fundraising leads over their respective primary rivals. Numbers for both candidates had emerged in the days leading up to the filing deadline, but reports filed Tuesday confirmed that Onorato raised about $924,000 in the first three months of 2010, finishing March with about $6.7 million on hand. His campaign said an additional $110,000 had been raised in the last week. Corbett raised almost twice Onorato’s three-month haul, bringing in $1.7 million during the period and finishing with $4 million on hand.

The greatest suspense was reserved for Democrat Anthony Williams, whose ability to raise money fast from big donors has been the talk of political circles. For now, that suspense will have to go unresolved; Williams’ report had not yet been received by the Pennsylvania Department of State late in the afternoon—it can be delivered to the Capitol police by midnight or received later with a Tuesday postmark for the campaign to avoid a fine. But in a release, the campaign confirmed news reports that it raised $1.7 million during the period, finishing with $1.5 million; pa2010.com reported last week that Williams received $250,000 from a political action committee advocating school choice.

“We got into this race later than some of the other candidates, but you can tell from the response we’re getting that there’s a lot of excitement about our campaign,” Williams said in the statement. “Part of the reason that so many voters are undecided is that Pennsylvanians are tired of hearing the same old things from the same old candidates. We’re bringing a new voice to the race and we’re not afraid to embrace some bold, new ideas to get Pennsylvania back on track.”

Democrats Jack Wagner and Joe Hoeffel finished the period with about $673,000 and $101,000 in cash on hand, respectively. News reports pegged Republican Sam Rohrer’s three-month haul at about $172,000, with only about $7,000 in cash on hand.

UPDATE: The Inquirer reports on details of Williams’ donors.

April 6, 2010 at 7:18 pm

--pa2010.com Staff

Tags: Anthony Williams, Dan Onorato, Jack Wagner, Joe Hoeffel, Sam Rohrer, Tom Corbett

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