Dougherty holds huge lead in fundraising race

Bob Warner
Philadelphia Daily News
Apr 12, 2008

Union leader John Dougherty has raised more than $800,000 and spent more than $500,000 in his bid for the state Senate seat being vacated by Vince Fumo, according to campaign finance reports filed yesterday.

Dougherty, business manager of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, reported $200,000 in donations from his local's political action committee. Other IBEW organizations around the country provided at least $70,000 more.

Other Philadelphia-area unions, particularly in the building trades, poured in another $230,000.

Dougherty reported $243,390 left in his campaign treasury with two weeks to go before the April 22 primary.

Dougherty's fundraising figures dwarfed the campaign treasuries of his two challengers, attorney Larry Farnese and community activist Anne Dicker.

Farnese reported $83,000 on hand at the end of last week, while Dicker reported $26,000. But both the Farnese and Dicker campaigns said they were satisfied with the results of recent internal polling and expect to have enough money to be competitive on Election Day.

Farnese, now backed by many of Fumo's allies, reported raising more than $210,000 since the beginning of the year.

His biggest source of financial support was a group of incumbent state senators, mostly Fumo allies, who endorsed Farnese last week.

Sen. Sean Logan, from the Pittsburgh suburbs, donated $50,000, Sen. Mike Stack of Northeast Philadelphia gave $25,000, and Sen. Gerald LaValle, Fumo's successor as ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, gave $30,000.

Both Dougherty and Farnese have been running heavy advertising on cable television for the last month. Dicker has made small ad buys on radio and cable, but just a pittance compared to Dougherty and Farnese.

Farnese's campaign manager, Brian Abernathy, said the campaign has been pleased with its fundraising and continued to raise significant amounts after this week's reporting deadline. He said Farnese would mount an advertising push in the closing days of the campaign.

Dicker's campaign manager, Karim Olaechea, said that heavy television advertising by the presidential candidates, plus Dougherty and Farnese, was driving up the cost of TV ads while reducing their value. *