Dowling spending, receiving more campaign funds than Mahoney
Pre-election campaign finance reports filed by the two candidates running for state representative in the 51st Legislative District reveal the challenger’s campaign has significantly outspent that of the incumbent in the final stretch of the race, also receiving more in monetary contributions.
From Sept. 20 to Oct. 24, expenditures of the campaign for Republican challenger Matthew Dowling have more than doubled those from the campaign of five-term incumbent Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-South Union Township. Monetary contributions to the Dowling campaign also nearly quadrupled those to the Mahoney campaign during that span.
Friends of Matthew Dowling reported expenditures totaling $52,568 in the time period, while Friends of Tim Mahoney reported expenditures totaling $22,042 during the same span.
Friends of Tim Mahoney reported receiving $15,700 in total monetary contributions and receipts, while Friends of Matthew Dowling reported receiving $61,202 in that span.
Dowling’s campaign has also reported spending and receiving more money than Mahoney’s dating back to May.
From May 17 to Oct. 24, Dowling’s campaign received $80,312 in total monetary contributions and receipts, more than the Mahoney campaign’s $57,050. In the same span, the Mahoney campaign’s expenditures totaled $48,528, while the Dowling campaign’s expenditures amounted to $79,084.
Mahoney’s campaign brought forward $23,191 from its previous campaign finance report chronicling funds through Sept. 19, also reporting unpaid debts totaling $7,769. Dowling’s campaign reported no unpaid debts.
While Mahoney’s campaign reported receiving no in-kind contributions from Sept. 20 to Oct. 24, Dowling’s campaign reported receiving $100,271 in in-kind contributions, consisting of $87,554 from the Republican Party of Pennsylvania for campaign literature and postage and $12,717 from the House Republican Campaign Committee for video editing, data, lists and postcards.
Mahoney’s committee reported an ending cash balance of $16,849, while Dowling’s campaign reported having $1,237 on hand as of Oct. 24.
The Mahoney campaign’s largest contribution from a political committee came from the Pennsylvania State Education Association Political Action Committee for Education in the amount of $5,000, and the campaign also received a $1,000 contribution from the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education.
Additionally, the Mahoney committee’s expenses were largely for direct mailing and postage, as well as radio ads. PNC Visa is listed as the official creditor of all $7,769 of the campaign’s unpaid debts, including $6,530 described as being spent on “radio” from KeyMarket Media.
The Dowling campaign’s largest contribution since Sept. 20 was a $58,000 donation from the House Campaign Republican Committee. The campaign also received a $1,000 contribution from the Erie Insurance Political Action Committee, as well as a $100 donation from Fayette County Commissioner Dave Lohr and a $250 contribution from the Associated Builders and Contractors of Western Pennsylvania Political Action Committee.
From Sept. 20 to Oct. 24, the Dowling committee reported spending $48,200 on cable and radio advertising from Mentzer Media Services in Towson, Maryland, more than twice the amount of the Mahoney committee’s total reported expenditures in the same span. The Dowling committee also spent $2,247 on yard signs in late September.
The full report for all candidates can be viewed online at www.campaignfinanceonline.state.pa.us.
The filing deadline for all candidates was Friday.