What the first fund-raising reports tell us about the 2022 Senate race in Pennsylvania

John Fetterman raised a lot of money but is spending a lot, too. Malcolm Kenyatta’s TV hits haven’t translated into major campaign cash. And Jeff Bartos is digging into his own pockets.

New fund-raising reports in Pennsylvania’s 2022 U.S. Senate race provided an early snapshot of the closely watched contest as candidates filed their first reports of the election cycle Thursday. The filings are some of the first public indicators in the contest for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Republican Pat Toomey. It’s among a handful of races around the country that will determine whether Democrats hold their narrow majority in the Senate.

There’s more than a year to go before the primary election, and more candidates are expected to join the field. But in the nascent stages of a campaign, fund-raising is one important gauge of candidate strength: The last close Pennsylvania Senate contest, in 2016, broke records for spending.

The major declared Democratic candidates include Fetterman, the lieutenant governor from Allegheny County, Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh, and Kenyatta, the state representative from Philadelphia. State Sen. Sharif Street of Philadelphia has launched an exploratory committee — a step toward a likely run. Arkoosh and Street announced their plans after the end of the quarter and weren’t required to file reports. The only major declared GOP candidate is Bartos, a Lower Merion real estate developer.

Here are some key takeaways from the reports, which cover the first three months of the year:

As expected, Fetterman — the first to enter the race and a favorite among many progressives — raised the most money: $3.9 million, largely from small-dollar donors. Fetterman’s campaign announced his fund-raising haul earlier this month.

One thing the campaign didn’t say then: He has already spent a little more than half of it.

That’s not a major surprise. To raise a lot of money online, campaigns have to spend a lot on digital advertising. But it means his advantage isn’t as big as it first seemed.

Kenyatta, a prominent surrogate for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, made a bit of a splash when he announced endorsements from the left-wing Working Families Party and a national teachers’ union. But the second-term lawmaker from North Philadelphia has a ways to go to build his war chest.

His campaign raised about $374,000, equal to almost 10% of Fetterman’s haul. As with Fetterman, most of Kenyatta’s cash came from donors who contributed less than $200, donations that don’t need to be itemized under federal rules. He spent $157,000.

Political insiders are also waiting to see whether Democratic members of Congress will jump in the race.

Speculation around a potential Senate run by U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean of Montgomery County spiked when she played a prominent role in the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. But Dean’s campaign filing doesn’t suggest she’s gearing up for a major statewide campaign: She raised $117,000 and had about $575,000 cash on hand.

U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Chester County has long been seen as a likely Senate candidate, though Democratic insiders lately have started to question whether she will make the leap. If she does run, money likely won’t be an issue. She raised more than $580,000 and had $3.5 million on hand — leaving her with more than even those already in the race.

Western Pennsylvania congressman Conor Lamb falls somewhere in between. Also seen as a potential statewide contender, he raised about $408,000 and had $1.1 million in his campaign fund.

As the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor in 2018, Bartos traveled the state and built a strong fund-raising network, and he announced earlier he had raised about $1.1 million for his Senate bid.

But $400,000 of that is money the developer loaned himself, according to his filing. That means he raised a lot less than first appeared.

Other Republicans who have formally declared their candidacies include Kathy Barnette, a former congressional candidate from Montgomery County; Everett Stern, a Chester County resident and founder of a private intelligence agency; and Sean Gale, a Montgomery County attorney.

Barnette ended the quarter with $91,000 in the bank, most of that left from her 2020 congressional campaign against Dean. Stern lent his campaign $87,000 and raised an additional $8,500. Gale raised $6,700, including $2,860 of his own money.

Correction: A previous version of this story mischaracterized Stern’s occupation.