HARRISBURG — As Democrat Josh Shapiro continues to massively outraise his Republican gubernatorial opponent, he’s using some of that haul on more than just his own reelection.
The latest campaign finance reports show the governor gave more than $5.6 million to the state Democratic Party’s political action committee throughout the summer — something party insiders say shows a striking level of centralization around Shapiro as Pennsylvania’s Democratic standard-bearer.
It also offers a contrast with the GOP, whose gubernatorial candidate Stacy Garrity is in no position to help the party financially. Instead, Republicans are relying heavily on a longtime booster in their high-stakes downballot efforts — Pennsylvania’s wealthiest person, Jeff Yass.
Since the beginning of the year, Shapiro has raked in $31 million and spent about $42 million. Garrity, meanwhile, has raised $3.8 million and used $4 million.
Shapiro and the Democrats have tall ambitions for November. They say the governor’s money will be put toward their goals of maintaining control of the state House, winning a long-sought majority in the Senate, and flipping four vulnerable congressional seats.
According to party officials, Shapiro’s cash injection will be spent on mailers, digital and television advertising, and in-person organizing to help downballot Democrats across the commonwealth.
“The Governor has focused relentlessly on rebuilding the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and fighting for our candidates to win up and down the ballot,” Chair Eugene DePasquale said in a statement. “He not only shows what’s possible when we put the people of this Commonwealth first, but he has invested an extraordinary amount of time, energy, and resources into helping Democrats compete and win at every level.”
Candidates give to a centralized state party committee for other practical reasons, political consultants told Spotlight PA: State political parties qualify for reduced nonprofit mailing rates. Party insiders also noted that Shapiro’s team and the party run coordinated campaign offices to share canvassing volunteers and voter data for door-knocking.
All of this is pretty standard procedure, operatives and analysts said. Former Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf gave about $4 million to the state party when he sought a second term in 2018.
However, Shapiro’s large financial lead gives him the freedom to financially help downballot candidates more than past governors, in a year that analysts predict will be advantageous for Democrats.
“It shows that he is a team player,” said Mike Mikus, a longtime Western Pennsylvania political consultant for Democrats.
Shapiro’s financial contributions are the latest example of him flexing his strong fundraising and popularity to influence the party’s direction, after installing close allies into key leadership positions and backing favored candidates in contested primaries statewide.
DePasquale, for example, was Shapiro’s pick last year to step into the party’s lead role. Shapiro also supported the three Democrats who prevailed in contested congressional primaries this year. All three are trying to oust sitting Republicans.
Having a centralized voice for the party benefits other candidates on the ballot, according to Marty Santalucia, a Democratic political consultant at MFStrategies.
“It gives everyone a North Star to point to, especially when you have really popular figures,” Santalucia said, noting Shapiro’s favorable polling numbers. “It makes it easier to row in the same direction.”
‘Save your money for the next time around’
Garrity, who is Pennsylvania’s state treasurer, has a radically different relationship to her party.
Her campaign gave just $129,000 to the GOP’s state committee in the past few months, per her latest disclosures.
But former Republican state Rep. Justin Simmons, who now works in government consulting, said Garrity shouldn’t be blamed for any losses or other shortcomings the GOP may see this year, especially in downballot races. If anything, he said, the state Republican Party should be doing more to help Garrity’s campaign against Shapiro.
“It's almost like she's a sacrificial lamb, and I don't get it,” Simmons said.
Simmons was a vocal online critic of the GOP’s decision to endorse Garrity early in her campaign to help clear the field for her nomination. He said the lack of a selection process alienated some grassroots Republicans who wanted more options, like those who supported 2022 nominee Doug Mastriano.
“Pennsylvania is the ultimate swing state at the top of the ticket,” he said, “but we haven't won squat at the gubernatorial level since 2010, since Tom Corbett.”
Instead of relying on Garrity to boost fundraising this year, the campaign committees for the state House and Senate Republican caucuses have been more active than their Democratic counterparts; they’ve contributed nearly $2.6 million to the state GOP committee this year, compared with Democratic groups giving about $830,000.
The Republican state committee also received a significant financial investment from a PAC connected to Pennsylvania’s wealthiest man, Jeff Yass. PA Education Choice Fund has donated a total of $715,000 to the committee since August. The fund was formed in March, and its only public report shows a single $4.2 million donation from Yass’ PAC, Students First.
The Keystone Conservative Fund has given the party $26,000 this year. The PAC formed in May and has yet to file a report, so its source of funding is unclear. Its chair is Lori Hardiman, a Republican National committeewoman and Pittsburgh-based attorney with ties to GOP U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick.
Relying on a few wealthy donors is a shortcoming of the Republican Party, according to former journalist and retired GOP consultant Dennis Roddy. He stressed that he too thinks it isn’t Garrity's fault she’s coming up short on funds.
“There was no large master plan for Garrity running,” Roddy said. “The people she needed had to give money to an underdog. This is not a year where someone was going to give money to an underdog.”
Republican donors see that this year’s political winds are blowing against the party, Roddy said, and challenging Shapiro was always going to be a “daunting” task. He added that donors “are fulfilling their own prophecy: ‘It’s going to be a bad year, so save your money for the next time around.’”
Shapiro’s biggest donor during the most recent reporting period, which covers much of the past four months, was the Democratic Governors Association. The national group has given him $1.25 million since June.
He also collected big checks from a number of traditional in-state Democratic allies, like organized labor, during the period. Unions gave Shapiro about $2 million combined; the largest single donation from that sector was $500,000 from public workers union AFSCME.
Otherwise, the rich and powerful continued to donate to Shapiro. That includes $500,000 from 84 Lumber founder Margaret Hardy; $250,000 from Massachusetts construction CEO John Fish; $100,000 combined from four people who work for AI developer Anthropic; $50,000 from David Hayne, an executive at Urban Outfitters; $25,000 from Detroit Pistons executive Arn Tellem; and $10,000 each from Melinda Gates, ex-wife of the Microsoft founder, Jan Sinegal, wife to the founder of Costco, and J. Clifford Forrest, an in-state coal mining executive.
Garrity, meanwhile, continued to count former GOP state party Chair Bob Asher among her biggest supporters. A PAC associated with him, PA Future Fund, gave her $230,000, while he personally contributed $75,000. HVAC contractor Dave White, who ran for the GOP gubernatorial nod in 2022, kicked in $105,000.
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