Democrats, campaign donations and the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade

The past week was always going to be a frenzied one for campaign fund-raising, with the year’s second quarter closing as Thursday became Friday.

And then the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, sending the issue of abortion back to states to make and enforce their own laws.

A game-changer in a swing-state midterm year.

Some Democratic candidates told Clout that decision last Friday resulted in the largest number of donations for their campaigns in a single day. But not all were eager to talk about abortion or raising money on the issue.

U.S. Rep. Susan Wild’s campaign said online contributions doubled after the decision and more than 100 volunteers signed up in her Lehigh Valley district. Like many, she’s been sending daily fund-raising emails on the issue.

One email sent Sunday to her supporters came from state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the Democratic nominee for governor. It asked for donations to keep abortion legal in Pennsylvania, linking to Wild’s campaign website.

Shapiro did the same in an email Monday to supporters of U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, who represents a Northeast Pennsylvania district former President Donald Trump won twice. Cartwright’s campaign declined to comment on abortion, the ruling, and fund-raising.

U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean’s campaign said she typically brings in about $1,500 per hour while fund-raising in her Montgomery County-based district. That jumped to $6,500 per hour after the ruling.

U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Chester County reported receiving more donations Friday than any other day of her campaign.

U.S. Rep Mary Gay Scanlon of Delaware County decried the ruling in daily fund-raising emails but declined to disclose any donation details.

In Northwestern Pennsylvania, Dan Pastore’s campaign said Friday was its biggest day for fund-raising, with 76% coming from new donors. He’s challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly.

Chris Deluzio’s campaign for an open seat in a district northwest of Pittsburgh said fund-raising jumped by 60%. He faces Republican Jeremy Shaffer.

Ashley Ehasz, challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in Bucks County, reported the highest number of contributions in a single day, with 89% from new donors, according to her ActBlue account. She capitalized on that with a poll Monday showing her down 7 points to Fitzpatrick until abortion comes up in the conversation, giving her a 10-point lead.

Amanda Waldman, seeking to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser in a north-central state district, was the only candidate who told Clout she did not try to raise money from the ruling. Waldman said she “did not want our message lost in the countless emails that went out that day.”

Shapiro had already been using the issue of abortion rights to raise money for his campaign for governor before Friday. Lt. Gov. John Fetterman was doing the same in his bid for the U.S. Senate.

Shapiro’s opponent, State Sen. Doug Mastriano of Franklin County, campaigned in the primary on banning abortion with no exceptions. He also said he would jail doctors who performed the procedure.

Mehmet Oz, the celebrity doctor and Republican nominee for Senate, opposes abortion but said he would allow for exceptions for rape, incest, or to save the life of the pregnant person.

Shapiro’s campaign, with $13 million in the bank and two ads running on television about Mastriano and abortion, said he raised about $500,000 from Friday to Sunday, his best fund-raising pace in the race. And 70% of those contributions came from first-time donors, a spokesperson said.

Fetterman’s camp said it received $180,000 in old-fashioned checks Monday sent by mail. This, in an age when donors can give money with a swipe of a finger on a smart-phone screen.

Mastriano and Oz did not respond to requests for comment. The state’s Republican Party tried to counter the fund-raising with its own pitch Saturday that said Democrats “have whipped up outrage among their activists to intimidate those who disagree with their extreme views on abortion.”

Last we heard from the Commonwealth Partners, a conservative consulting firm that runs a pair of political action committees, it had just burned through $13 million trying to persuade Republican voters to support Bill McSwain for governor ... before a last-minute switch in favor of Lou Barletta.

Both those guys finished a distant third and second, respectively, to Mastriano, who Commonwealth Partners president and CEO Matt Brouilette had warned could not ”win the swing voters necessary” to defeat Shapiro in November.

Mastriano in April dismissed Commonwealth Partners as “RINOs” — Republicans in name only — backed by “sugar daddies” with deep pockets. He also called them “very dark and sinister.”

Commonwealth’s “sugar daddy” is Pennsylvania’s richest man, school choice enthusiast Jeff Yass.

Brouillette took to Twitter on Monday to tout a new effort linking Shapiro and President Joe Biden to violent crime with billboards and a new website.

“I wonder how many billboards and messages are going up across PA?” he tweeted.

Brouillette declined to answer that question when Clout asked.

One thing Clout can predict: Win or lose, Brouillette and his crew will be well-paid. Their two PACs, which had a combined $7.2 million in the bank at the start of June, paid his firm more than $155,000 for rent and administration for the first five months of the year, campaign finance records show.

Clout provides often irreverent news and analysis about people, power, and politics.