McGinty drops out of Dem contest in the 7th

Democrat Drew McGinty is out of the race for the 7th Congressional District seat being vacated by Republican U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan.

“Our political system is all about candidates raising money and I haven’t been able to raise what’s needed to stay in the fight,” McGinty stated in a release Friday. “And sadly, no amount of additional hard work and long hours by my campaign’s volunteers and me is enough of a substitute.”

McGinty, an information technology consultant, ended the year with just $1,756 cash on hand, according to figures published Wednesday by the Federal Election Commission. He had managed to raise just a little more than $2,000 total.

“The decision to end my campaign was extremely difficult, especially for someone as tenacious as I,” McGinty said. “But sometimes there comes a point when you cross over from being the underdog in a long and tough fight to waging a battle that you have little prospect of winning.”

Other Democrats still in the race are former Central Intelligence Agency counter-intelligence officer Shelly Chauncey, attorney Dan Muroff, bioengineer Molly Sheehan, Realtor Elizabeth Moro, state Rep. Greg Vitali, D-166 of Haverford, and state Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17 of Lower Merion.

Leach has suspended his campaign for the 7th District following allegations that he either inappropriately touched women or made sexually charged jokes that left some feeling uncomfortable, but has not officially withdrawn from the race.

The FEC indicates Muroff was leading the pack with $267,073 cash on hand as of Dec. 31. He has raised more than $421,000 to date.

Sheehan ended the year with $186,752 and has raised more than $204,000 total, but brought in just $9,572 in the final three months of 2017. Leach was close behind with an ending balance of $181,800. He managed to accumulate more than $403,000 in the third quarter of 2017, according to the FEC, but has brought in just $134,487 since October.

Moro ended the year with just $10,914, by FEC figures. She has raised more than $69,000 since July, but saw a slump in the third quarter, bringing in only $9,084. That was buttressed on either side with second-quarter and year-end contributions of $36,000 and $24,000, respectively.

There were no reports available for Vitali, who only announced his candidacy this week, or Republican candidate Joe Billie. Billie said Friday that his report would be filed soon.

Drew McGinty