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Beiler loans his campaign big money

Republican Chet Beiler has loaned his campaign for Lieutenant Governor almost $400,000 this month, seemingly making him the most viable challenger to endorsed GOP candidate Jim Cawley.

The big-dollar loans emerged in recently-filed state campaign finance data. The former Lancaster GOP chairman kicked in a little more than $200,000 on May 3, the last day of the latest state reporting period. He then loaned his campaign committee another $196,000 on May 7, according to a 24-hour report recently filed with the Pennsylvania Department of State.

While Cawley, the Bucks County Commissioner, remains the favorite in the crowded May 18 primary, the large expenditures by Beiler make him a credible challenger against a state party organization determined to push Cawley over the hump as Attorney General Tom Corbett’s running mate. Beiler retains a following among the conservative base—factions of which are wary of Cawley—and enjoys name recognition as the party’s candidate for state auditor general in 2008. Only former state Representative John Kennedy can match Beiler and Cawley financially in the nine-person race.

Cawley had almost $105,000 in the bank as of last Tuesday, according to his campaign finance report. He had already spent $40,000 on cable TV buys, and Beiler made headlines this week when he took to the airwaves with a quirky new ad (embedded below). Beiler made his money as the founder of a prominent gazebo retailing business, and his campaign Web site says he’s also a partner in “several other Pennsylvania businesses.”

When the Republican State Committee endorsed Cawley in February, Beiler was by far the most vocal in his criticism of the endorsement process.

“The Republican Party’s endorsement process is substantially flawed,” Beiler told pa2010.com at the time. “Members have complained for years that many endorsement outcomes are rigged by intimidation, and now that I’ve been through the process in these past 90 days, I understand better what they meant.”

May 12, 2010 at 8:45 am

--Dan Hirschhorn

Tags: Chet Beiler, Jim Cawley, John Kennedy, Lt. Gov.

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