Western Pa. sees trickle of spending from candidates

Area may be key to presidential election in 2020

In the third fundraising quarter of 2019, candidates for president spent more than $158 million, just a few months out from the nation’s first primary contests.

But only $6,000 of their campaign dollars flowed through Western Pennsylvania, a key electoral area that political analysts say could be one of the most important in the country in 2020. And of that amount, at least $4,000 of the spending in the Pittsburgh area was courtesy of a Democratic candidate who dropped out of the race during the quarter.

The candidates’ new fundraising reports — covering the period from July 1 to Sept. 30 — revealed their spending across the country on everything from staff salaries and data to hotel rooms and meals. It also showed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren leading the Democratic field in fundraising, bringing in $33.7 million and $25.7 million respectively. South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg followed in third with $23.3 million.

Mr. Sanders’ campaign was the only current one to visit Pittsburgh during the quarter, though no spending details were listed on his campaign finance report.

His campaign led the Democratic field with $21.5 million in spending, which included $5.6 million in salaries, $3.7 million on advertising and nearly $1 million on campaign merchandise.

Mr. Sanders paid a salary to Robert Burns, whose residency was listed on the report as being in Pittsburgh, but the campaign said Mr. Burns is a regional field director in New Hampshire.

The Sanders campaign also listed a $539.97 expense at The Carvery, the buffet and salad bar inside Meadows Casino in Washington, Pa. But that, too, can’t be claimed as Pittsburgh spending because it was a mistaken entry, a Sanders campaign spokesman said. The disbursement was actually for sandwiches from a shop of a similar name in Michigan, before the senator boarded a bus from Detroit to Canada to purchase cheaper insulin with people with Type I diabetes.

Ms. Warren’s campaign spent $18.6 million across the country in the quarter, allowing her to bankroll a staff of well over 500 people and a $3.2 million digital operation. She spent $441.50 at the United States Bankruptcy Court on Grant Street, earmarked for “research.” A similar transaction popped up for “research” at a bankruptcy court in Wilmington, Del.

The Warren campaign could not be reached for comment on the transaction, but the bankruptcy court allows the public to access docket sheets for bankruptcy courts and proceedings at 10 cents per page or to buy audio recordings of hearings at $31 per CD, among other offers.

According to an August story by the Associated Press, Ms. Warren — a bankruptcy expert and consumer watchdog — has traveled to federal courthouses since she was a young scholar to gather statistics on why people were going bankrupt. In the early 1980s, she joined two of her colleagues in visiting bankruptcy courts in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Texas, reading through more than 1,500 bankruptcy filings.

Mr. Buttigieg hasn’t visited Pittsburgh yet, but his campaign spent more than $400 on event supplies from Dick Sporting Goods, which is headquartered in Coraopolis.

Though he’s made official White House visits to the region, Mr. Trump’s reelection campaign didn’t swing through this past quarter. The president will be here Wednesday to speak at the annual Shale Insight conference at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown.

California Sen. Kamala Harris, who had $10.5 million cash on hand at the end of the quarter, had a transaction in the area: $200 of parking at a meter company headquartered in Warrendale.

Congressman Tim Ryan’s campaign, near the bottom of the fundraising pack, listed seven transactions for parking at Pittsburgh International Airport totaling more than $600, as well as more than $250 in shipping costs at a FedEx post office box out of Pittsburgh. His district in northeast Ohio is about an hour’s drive from Downtown.

Much of the Western Pennsylvania spending came from New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who dropped out of the Democratic primary race in late August.

Ms. Gillibrand racked up about $4,000 in costs stemming from a visit to Oakland in July; more than $200 for travel and office supplies at a CVS store on Forbes Avenue; $400 at Hilton Garden Inn in Oakland for event catering and site costs; $1,160 for travel costs at the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center; $1,000 for printing at Print and Copy Center Inc. in Verona; $860 for car rentals at the airport; and $470 for meals and catering at The Porch, a restaurant in Schenley Plaza.