Malcolm Kenyatta got donations from Halle Berry, Amy Schumer, and Flo from Progressive
The support from the entertainment industry shows how Kenyatta has managed to build a national profile as he runs for Senate in Pennsylvania.
State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta has long trailed the pack in raising money for his U.S. Senate campaign. But he’s got some star-studded donors.
The Philadelphia Democrat is far behind Lt. Gov John Fetterman and U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb in campaign cash despite a group of celebrity contributors backing his underdog bid, a closer look at recent financial filings shows.
The support from the entertainment industry shows how Kenyatta has managed to build a national profile from Pennsylvania, with frequent appearances on MSNBC and endorsements from progressive celebrities like director Lee Daniels and activist Gloria Steinem.
But it also shows the limits of that support. More than 70% of Kenyatta’s donors in 2021 lived outside the state, which means they can’t vote for him. And despite having some wealthy supporters — and the second-highest number of individual donors after Fetterman — his median donation is only about $10.
In addition to Daniels and Steinem, donors who gave Kenyatta between $500 and the maximum allowed $5,600 included actresses Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon, Amy Schumer, Tasha Smith, and Debra Messing, as well as singer Robin Thicke, personal finance expert Suze Orman, and comedian Wanda Sykes. He also got money from actress Stephanie Courtney (“Flo” from the Progressive Insurance commercials) and Benj Pasek, a musical theater composer from the Philadelphia region who cowrote Dear Evan Hansen.
While Fetterman and Lamb didn’t have as many celebrities on their donor lists, they each had a few notables. Actor Christian Bale and musician Jackson Browne contributed $5,000 and $850, respectively, to Fetterman. Actress Amanda Seyfried gave $2,900 to Lamb, as did several movie and television producers.
Pennsylvania’s open Senate race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey is one of the country’s most competitive and could determine control of the chamber.
» READ MORE: The Pennsylvania Senate money race in 8 charts
Kenyatta has long faced questions about how he can run a competitive campaign with so little money to introduce himself to voters across the state. He’s argued that, through a combination of aggressive on-the-ground campaigning and a growing national media profile, his name is getting out there. The North Philadelphia native is running to bring working-class experience to a Senate largely packed with wealthy politicians.
He entered 2022 with only $285,000 in the bank, compared with $5 million for Fetterman and $3 million for Lamb.
Staff writer Aseem Shukla contributed to this article.