Arkoosh leads field in funds in Pa 13th, Gov’s field narrows

First-time office-seeker and physician Valerie Arkoosh leads the four-candidate field of Democrats competing for Pennsylvania’s 13 Congressional district in fundraising, finishing 2013 with $643,000 in her campaign account, ahead of all comers and more than three times as much as presumed front runner Marjorie Margolies.

The heavy spending by Margolies, who held the seat 20 years ago, is the other surprising story in the campaign finance reports the candidates filed Friday. Margolies actually spent $14,000 more than she raised in the last filing period, raising $209,000 and spending $223,000.

The four candidates are competing for the Democratic nomination for the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep.Allyson Schwartz, who is running for governor.

You can see the candidates’ fundraising totals in the chart below, which shows how much each raised in the campaign so far, how much they raised and spent in the last quarter of 2013, and how much each has left on hand as of January 1st.

In other campaign news, our friends at Politics Pa report that Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski is withdrawing from the Pennsylvania governor’s race, leaving only seven announced Democrats in the field. How many can you name?

Pawlowski’s bid was a long shot from the beginning, but I know he worked hard at it and in the one debate I moderated, he had something to say. Happy trails, Ed.

Candidate	Raised in campaign	Raised in quarter	Spent in quarter	Left on hand
Valerie Arkoosh	$935,216	$198,792	$143,973	$643,932
Daylin Leach	$696,571	$170,677	$65,994	$481,197
Brendan Boyle	$545,781	$141,798	$68,806	$381,102
Marjorie Margolies	$632,154	$209,439	$223,828	$173,866