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Aiming high: Marino camp foresees $500K by summer’s end
Never let bad news keep you down.
That appears to be the attitude being taken by Republican Tom Marino’s congressional campaign after reporting paltry fundraising totals last week that made it the party’s biggest disappointment of the fundraising cycle. Marino finished June with only $11,000 in the bank, a fraction of incumbent Congressman Chris Carney’s (D-10) war chest. But now Marino’s campaign says it’s ready to move, and is setting a goal that could prove next to impossible to meet: raise another half-a-million dollars by the end of the summer.
“We have a plan in place that will get us to $500,000 by the end of the summer,” Marino campaign spokesman Jason Fitzgerald told pa2010.com.
Fitzgerald said the campaign has already gotten its cash-on-hand number back to $50,000. Fundraising events are in the works, but meeting such an audacious goal would require Marino to raise in about six weeks more than double the amount he raised in six months. Fitzgerald acknowledged that such a dramatic turnaround seems unlikely after such a rough quarter. To help, Marino’s campaign recently hired a new finance director and assistant finance director. Fitzgerald said the finance director, Jack Brady, is working without pay.
“This campaign has always been a sleeper, especially on the D.C. radar,” Fitzgerald said. “When you have a plan in place, negative stories about your campaign don’t affect you. Why not have all your money come in August and September?”
Carney campaign manager Max Cummings waved off the Marino campaign’s latest claim.
“The Marino campaign can spin their fundraising report any way they want,” Cummings said, “but it’s clear there is a significant enthusiasm gap between Carney’s campaign and that of his opponent.”
Despite Marino’s lackluster fundraising, local GOP leaders are still voicing their support for the former U.S. Attorney.
“If Marino gets one-tenth of the money that Carney has, he will make this race competitive,” Susquehanna County party chairman John Kameen said. “I have seen firsthand what kind of support Tom gets here in Susquehanna. He’s going to get a big vote from our county without having to spend much.”
Added Wayne County GOP chairman Francis Golden: “Conservatives in this county and across the 10th are highly motivated already. We’re going after this lap-dog Democrat.”
July 21, 2010 at 10:00 am
Tags: Chris Carney, PA-10, Tom Marino
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Marino is a joke
Jul 21st, 2010
What is in the water in Williamsport? They should realize there is no excitement or momentum in their campaign and making outrageous claims about fundraising goals will not give the voters in the 10th any reason to support a campaign that is going nowhere. Marino can continue to offer inflated rhetoric about his level of campaign money, but the truth is he sees the ship sinking and knows the help will continue to decrease.
Come On Tom
Jul 21st, 2010
Marino’s camp can keep trying to make excuses why he has not raised any money. He only has 11K on hand due to his car accident or that it is not the right time of the year to raise money. The election is roughly only 3 months away and as it looks right now Marino is dead in the water. It is clear that Marino is not a strong candidate and his campaign is clearly lacking any and all enthusiasm. Lets see if you can raise more money in 6 weeks than you have raised in your entire campaign. It seems highly unlikely.
TB
Jul 22nd, 2010
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: GOP donors will not place a bet on a longshot challenger like a Marino or a Kelly when they have a good chance of getting a return on their investment in Meehan. The real battle is in the 7th and the Democrats better realize that before its too late. If we can keep DelCo Blue for the third cycle in a row then we will break the back of the rotten DelCo GOP.
Ada
Jul 22nd, 2010
Carney may have more money but Marino has Pro-lifers on his side. Carney is not Pro-life. He will not win in the fall. I live in his district. We are conservatives. Go Tom!!!
TB
Jul 22nd, 2010
@Ada Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the last time I checked the people of this country, this Commonwealth, and the 10th Congressional District were more concerned about getting the economy back on track than rehashing the same old arguments about contentious social issues.
MD
Jul 22nd, 2010
I agree on Marino but Kelly is going to do very well and already has much more COH than Marino. Further, Kelly has the ability to self fund and Dahlkemper is much more vulnerable than Carney.
TB
Jul 22nd, 2010
Kelly will grimace and balk at the price tag of self financing in the general election if he hasn’t already.
TR
Jul 22nd, 2010
The Carney camp should be less focused on $$$ and more focused on the outrage in the 10th. Mr. Carney betrayed every voter in the 10th with his support for the TAX that is Health Care and the failed stimulus package 8% unemployment that is 10.3% not counting those who have given up. You will hear us as promised in the voting booths all over the 10th Mr. Carney we are coming for your seat.
PA10nomoreLiberals
Jul 24th, 2010
Money or not, voters are done with Carney being Pelosi’s YES man! PA is NOT an extreme liberal part of the country and Carney is voting as if it is! I called his office regarding the Healthcare disaster he voted for and was told that I did not understand the “big picture” and that Carney knew more than myself on what is “good for his district”. Hopeful that PA 10 will show him the door and have a rep that LISTENS to their voters….Read up on the healthcare reform and small businesses that Carney is trying to sell..LOL! Call his office and see what they tell you, they will tell YOU to look it up on the internet or go to a government site and figure it out because they dont know. What a JOKE Carney has become….time to VOTE him OUT!
PA 10 Voter
Jul 25th, 2010
While Marino’s camp keeps distorting the truth about Carney the people are beginning to see that Marino is a dishonest man with loyalties to corrupt figures and criminals. It wont matter what garbage Marino throws out there, nobody will vote for someone they don’t trust. Espically with all the corruption that is going on up here. You may not agree with all the votes Carney makes but at least he is honest and has principles. On the brite side for Marino, he will be able to go back to making loads of money defending criminals.
Bob
Jul 29th, 2010
In the 2010 Primary, Carney got 38,000 votes and the Republican candidates almost 60,000. Carney got fewer votes in all but 1 county in the 10th District. Marino having less money is not going to matter. Do you really think all the Republicans are just going to stay home this election because Marino does not run as many ads as Carney. Not a chance. In the ’08 Primary Carney got 71,000 votes. This year he got only 38,000. Carney is done and he deserves to be done.