The race to fill Philadelphia’s open congressional seat is the marquee election in the city this year, but with less than four months left until primary election day, it has yet to attract much money from political action committees or donors outside the region.
Most of the campaign thus far has been funded by big checks from individual donors, and several of the top contenders to represent Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District — the most Democratic in the nation — have raised most of their money from people who live in Pennsylvania.
That’s according to an Inquirer analysis of recently filed campaign finance reports that break down contributions to each candidate between October and December.
The filings, coupled with previous financial reports, provide a snapshot of who is contributing to each Democrat’s campaign heading into the election year, and how capable each contender is of powering their operations and advertising.
While money is not the only factor in a political campaign, fundraising prowess can be used as a predictor of viability, and it can persuade other donors to contribute. Ten candidates announced they are running for the seat held by retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, but it’s likely that not all of them will make it onto the May 19 primary election ballot.
Overall, the reports showed that State Sen. Sharif Street, the son of a former mayor, holds a financial advantage over the rest of the field.
However, the two physicians in the contest, Ala Stanford and David Oxman, have each dedicated six-figure loans to their own campaigns, and progressive State Rep. Chris Rabb is expected to draw donations from left-leaning groups.
Interest from outside Philly will also likely rise as the primary election draws near.
If national political figures weigh in on the race, they can lean on their vast networks of donors across the country to keep their preferred candidates’ campaigns afloat.
And deep-pocketed special-interest groups with their eyes on influencing Congress may seek to sway the race in its final months.
Not much PAC money — yet
Under decades-old campaign finance law, corporations cannot give directly to candidates for federal office. But their executives, board members, and employees can fund PACs that are used as vehicles to prop up their supported candidates.
As the role of money in politics has drawn scrutiny over the years, so has the reliance on so-called corporate PACs. That is especially true among some Democrats who see accepting money from them as a litmus test of their working-class bona fides.
Rabb has hammered the issue in public forums and debates. He says he has never accepted corporate PAC money since his first run for office in 2015, and has repeatedly called on the other contenders to refuse corporate PAC funding.
None of the candidates for the 3rd District has thus far leaned on corporate PAC money, according to the campaign finance reports.
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However, PACs associated with labor unions have gotten involved.
Street raised about $40,000 in the last period from PACs associated with labor groups. He is backed by the deep-pocketed Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, an umbrella organization of unions that endorsed him last fall.
In the past, the trades have also funded super PACs, outside spending groups that can raise unlimited amounts of money but must follow strict rules largely barring them from coordinating directly with the campaigns they support.
In 2023, the building trades funded a super PAC that supported Cherelle L. Parker’s successful run for mayor. And in 2018, Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the most cash-flush building trades union in the state, funded a super PAC to support unsuccessful congressional candidate Rich Lazer.
But no such super PAC has materialized so far, according to campaign finance reports. Rather, the bigger financial factor in this race — at least through the end of last year — was candidates lending money to their own campaigns. Stanford put up $250,000 on Dec. 31, the last day of the reporting period. And Oxman has lent his campaign $175,000.
Small vs. big-dollar donors
While the candidates relied largely on donations from individuals, the size of the checks they brought in varied. Under campaign finance limits, individuals can give up to $3,500 to a candidate per election.
The average contribution to State Rep. Morgan Cephas since she announced her campaign was $596 — about half of Street’s and Rabb’s average contributions. Individual donors gave the most to Stanford, on average, with the average contribution to her campaign totaling $1,737.
That analysis includes only donors who contributed more than $200 through the course of the year. Campaigns are required to itemize only contributions above that threshold.
Small donations, or contributions under $200, have made up a tiny fraction of the money brought in by the top contenders so far, according to the latest filings. About 11.5% of the money Rabb raised was from small-dollar donors. Such contributions made up less than 5% of all funding for Stanford, Oxman, and Street.
The one outlier was Pablo Iván McConnie-Saad, an ex-Treasury Department official under former President Joe Biden. His campaign has been somewhat low-profile so far; however, small-dollar contributions made up a quarter of his total of $119,000 raised.
His campaign said in a statement that the filings are evidence that his run is “entirely people powered.”
Stanford’s campaign manager, Janée Taft-Mack, noted that the pediatric surgeon has been campaigning for a shorter amount of time than several of her opponents. She announced her campaign in October, several months after Street and Rabb.
Taft-Mack added that the range of donors “underscores a coalition that crosses income levels, neighborhoods, and communities.”
Where the money came from
While every candidate vying for Evans’ seat has touted grassroots support, it appears that Cephas and Street raised the most money from donors who live in Philadelphia.
About half of the individual donors who gave more than $200 to Street and Cephas are city residents. Both candidates have also raised the most money from donors living in Pennsylvania.
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Street, who formerly led the state Democratic Party and has connections to donors across Pennsylvania, raised 81% of his individual contributions, or about $488,000, from in-state residents. For Cephas, the share was 78%, or about $162,000.
Anthony Campisi, a spokesperson for Street, said the latest finance report “highlights the entire point of our campaign.”
“Sharif is running to represent Philadelphians from across an incredibly diverse district,” he said, “and is building the coalition needed to both win and effectively serve in Congress.”
Cephas’ campaign manager, Salvatore Colleluori, said her fundraising within the city shows she has a “broad base of support, especially in Philadelphia.”
“She has been a champion for Philadelphia in the state House, and people know that,” he said. “They want to support that work.”
Rabb, a progressive who has support from left-leaning organizations and activists outside the region, had among the lowest share of contributions from Philly-based donors, according to The Inquirer’s analysis.
He said in a statement that when small-dollar donations are accounted for, he believes he will have “more Philly donations than any of the establishment candidates.”
Rabb said he will soon be rolling out endorsements from progressive organizations “that will significantly grow our donor base.”
Staff writer Sean Collins Walsh contributed to this article.
