Another $20.20 to win in 2020?
Campaigns push for year-end donations
WASHINGTON — As the country prepared for New Year celebrations to mark the end of a decade, political campaigns in Pennsylvania seemed to see the calendar change in terms of dollars and cents.
A flood of campaign emails popped into the inboxes of supporters in the final days of the year, stressing the importance of a Dec. 31 federal fundraising deadline.
For political newcomers and incumbents who face challengers in 2020, the new year brings high stakes.
“This is our first big deadline,” read an email message from Kristy Gnibus, a 35-yearold high school teacher from Erie. The email suggested donations ranging from $10 to $100, with the default donation as $20.20.
“At the end of the quarter, our fundraising numbers will go public for the first time — all eyes are on us,” her email explained.
Ms. Gnibus — a Democrat running to unseat Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, in Pennsylvania’s 16th Congressional District — was not available for comment Tuesday, her campaign manager said. The campaign manager did not comment on the fundraising goals.
Federal law requires candidates running for office to keep open books and report detailed receipts and expenses each quarter. Each campaign’s financial information is available online at the Federal Election Commission’s website.
Those rules tend to create a rush for donations by campaigns at the end of each quarter. Campaigns must file their annual reports, which account for financials through Dec. 31, to the commission by the end of January.
The results will appear publicly about the time campaigns gear up for the 2020 elections, a consequential series of national contests that could reshape American politics for years to come.
Big donors often study the fundraising levels as a gauge for which candidates are the most promising or need their help the most, said Matt MerrimanPreston, principal of Ampersand Consulting, a Lawrenceville-based political consulting firm that helps campaigns for Democratic candidates in Western Pennsylvania.
“It certainly helps to take the temperature of the health of the campaign — and also the enthusiasm,” Mr. Merriman-Preston said.
Another factor in the flurry of emails is the psychological pressure to act ahead of an urgent deadline. Campaigns use
real data to figure out how people respond to various phrases and the frequency of emails, Mr. MerrimanPreston said.
The campaign of Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Mt. Lebanon, sent an email to supporters this week calling the Dec. 31 deadline “critical” and asking for a collective $3,198 in the final 48 hours.
Mr. Lamb faces a general election challenger, Republican Sean Parnell, as well as attack ads on Pittsburgharea television and radio stations from a group linked to the House Republican leadership. Mr. Parnell declared his candidacy on Oct. 30, which means the upcoming filing deadline will place his financials against Mr. Lamb’s for the first time.
That adds urgency to Mr. Lamb’s campaign, whose email included a graphic of a clock ticking toward midnight and a blue bar rising with donations. Supporters could click buttons with suggested donation amounts of $3, $10, $50 and $100.
“It’s crucial we reach our goal before midnight on December 31st,” Mr. Lamb’s campaign wrote.
Taking cues from President Donald Trump’s reelection bid, Republican challengers across the country have used the House Democrats’ impeachment vote to raise cash from the president’s supporters.
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, a Democrat in the Philadelphia suburbs, has sent out fundraising emails throughout the month saying she needed money more than ever.
Ms. Scanlon, who does not yet face a 2020 challenger, referenced the Republican National Committee’s “spending heavily” to defeat her, and Vice President Mike Pence’s visits to her district to target her seat. Ms. Scanlon, pushed for Mr. Trump’s impeachment as a first-term lawmaker and member of the House Judiciary Committee.
On Dec. 28, her campaign told supporters it needed $5,340 more by the end of the year. On Dec. 30, that number was down to $2,519.
“Our last major test of 2019 is on Tuesday night, and we need to prove that PA-05 supports the work Mary Gay is doing to drive our country forward,” the Dec. 30 email wrote. “When our FEC quarterly filing report becomes public, all eyes will be on Mary Gay and her total fundraising amount for Q4.”
Her campaign enlisted help from Ed Rendell, the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011, to press for donations before the deadline.
“I know her team has a critical FEC filing deadline coming up very soon,” Mr. Rendell wrote in a Dec. 21 email to her supporters. “The GOP will be quick to review her report to judge the strength of her re-election campaign — and her team tells me they’re still very short of their goal.”
“With impeachment underway, there couldn’t be a more important time to join the fight,” he added.
Campaign officials for Ms. Scanlon did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
Mr. Lamb’s campaign email, meanwhile, briefly mentioned his legislative efforts on lowering prescription drug prices and fighting for workers’ rights. It coincided with his office — legally separate from his campaign — releasing an annual “progress report” for 2019, which argued Mr. Lamb “consistently delivered on his promises to people in southwestern PA.”
Hours before the deadline on Tuesday, Mr. Lamb sent another email with the subject line “one final thing.”
“I know we’ve asked a lot of you over the past two years,” the email read. “I’m counting on your help to make sure we win again next year.”