Super PACs have already spent more than $5M to influence the Philly mayor’s race

Outside groups have spent more than $5 million to boost four candidates for Philadelphia mayor — with a month left to go until the primary election.

Campaign-finance reports filed this week with the city show that four independent-expenditure groups, also known as super PACs, have in some cases spent more money than the candidates they are seeking to elevate. Candidates for mayor did not have to file reports this week.

Super PACs, which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money as long as they don’t coordinate with candidates or campaigns, may play an outsize role ahead of the May 16 primary. Nine candidates will be on the Democratic primary ballot, and five are seen as top contenders. All of the front-runners are either supported by a super PAC, self-funding, or both.

The only top contender who is not supported by a super PAC is Allan Domb, a real estate magnate who has put $7 million of his own money into his campaign.

The records show a super PAC that’s backing Cherelle Parker for mayor has spent more than $1.3 million to elect the former City Council member. Almost all that money was spent on television commercials.

The group also took in about $750,000 over just the last three weeks. That includes two big checks from labor unions that are supporting Parker’s bid: a political-action committee controlled by the regional carpenters’ union contributed $250,000, and Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers kicked in $200,000. The pro-Parker PAC has about a half-million dollars in the bank.

» READ MORE: Big money is flooding into the Philly mayor’s election. Here is how it’s shaping the race.

A super PAC supporting former City Councilmember Helen Gym for mayor has spent more than $700,000 in total, almost all of it on television commercials. Records show the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers contributed $100,000 at the end of March; most of the dollars the pro-Gym group raised came from PACs controlled by the national teachers’ union.

The filings show the pro-Gym PACs coffers are nearly depleted, and the group hasn’t spent money on television advertising this week. (Gym’s campaign spending on television has ratcheted up over the last two weeks, according to media tracking firm AdImpact.)

A third super PAC, which is supporting ex-City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart for mayor, has raised about $205,000 and spent about $60,000. Most of the contributions have come from individuals, including $100,000 from tech investor Richard Vague.

But none of those groups raised and spent as much money as For a Better Philadelphia, a dark-money-funded super PAC that has injected more than $3 million into the race to elect grocer Jeff Brown.

The Philadelphia Board of Ethics sued the PAC and a related nonprofit entity earlier this month and accused them of illegally coordinating with Brown, who acknowledged that he fundraised for the group before declaring his candidacy in November.

For a Better Philadelphia was ordered by a judge on April 10 to at least temporarily stop spending any money to influence the outcome of the primary election. A hearing is set for next week in the case. Representatives of the PAC have denied wrongdoing, and Brown has called the lawsuit a “political hit job.”

Records filed by the PAC this week show it didn’t raise any money over the last three weeks, and all of its reported expenditures, including on legal fees and consultants, were before the court order. It has about $80,000 left in the bank.