Warner’s campaign getting, spending more funds than Mari’s
Pre-election campaign finance reports filed by the two candidates running for state representative in the 52nd Legislative District reveal the incumbent’s campaign has received significantly more in monetary contributions than the challenger and his campaign in the final stretch of the race.
The campaign of one-term incumbent Ryan Warner, R-Perryopolis, received $10,150 in monetary contributions from Sept. 20 to Oct. 24, nearly double the $5,750 received by the campaign of Democratic challenger James Mari in the same span.
Warner’s campaign committee, Friends of Ryan Warner, has held an advantage over the Mari campaign in in-kind contributions in the past few weeks.
Friends of Ryan Warner reported eight in-kind contributions totaling $33,122 from the Republican Party of Pennsylvania from Sept. 20 to Oct 24. Each contribution reportedly provided campaign literature or postage.
The Mari campaign reported no in-kind contributions during the same period, and Mari himself received one in-kind contribution of $100.
In that span, Warner did not report spending or receiving campaign finances himself, while Mari reported no monetary contributions received personally since Sept. 20 but noted he had contributed to his campaign.
The Democratic candidate reported lending $8,569 to his campaign committee, Friends of James Mari, for direct mail, pens and radio advertising, as well as a $1,000 loan. Mari reported a negative ending cash balance of $30,069, having carried over a negative balance of $21,500 from the prior reporting period that ended on Sept. 19.
The Warner campaign’s largest monetary donation since Sept. 20 came in the amount of $1,500 from Bill Political Action Committee, which is affiliated with Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Hollidaysburg, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Friends of Ryan Warner also received a $1,000 contribution from the Philadelphia-based political action committee for Comcast Corporation and NBCUniversal, as well as a $500 donation from the San Mateo, California-based political action committee for Chevron Employees.
Another contribution to the Warner campaign came from Connellsville city councilman Tom Karpiak, who won his bid for re-election in that role as a Democrat in 2013.
The Mari committee’s largest monetary donation since Sept. 20 came in the amount of $2,000 from Steamfitters Local 449 in Pittsburgh. The Mari campaign also received a $1,000 contribution from the Pennsylvania State Education Association’s Political Action Committee for Education.
The Warner campaign’s expenditures from Sept. 20 to Oct. 24 totaled $5,041, with the largest expense reportedly being a $3,175 purchase of yard signs and buttons from Red Maverick Media. In the same span, Friends of James Mari spent $2,047, with $1,691 paying for direct mail postage.
The Warner committee’s expenditures have also surpassed those of the Mari committee since May. The Warner campaign’s expenditures totaled $11,307 from May 17 to Oct. 24, approximately 40 percent more than the Mari campaign’s $6,773. But Mari’s own expenditures have exceeded those of his campaign committee in the same span, totaling $10,669.
The gap between the campaign committees is greater still in total contributions and receipts in the same span, with the Warner committee totaling $24,303 in that category and the Mari committee totaling little more than half that at $12,645. Mari himself reported receiving just one donation, of $100, since May 17.
The full report for all candidates can be viewed online at https://www.campaignfinanceonline.state.pa.us.
The pre-election filing deadline for all candidates was Oct. 28.