Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) has raised more than $4 million in the second fundraising quarter of this year, his reelection campaign told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday.
Casey's team said the numbers mark the best quarterly fundraising haul of his career, beating his previous record by over $1.2 million. The numbers, which have yet to be confirmed through Federal Election Commission filings, serve as a show of strength for the three-term senator as he waits for an eventual GOP challenger to his reelection bid. The Casey campaign said it has nearly $6 million in cash on hand going into the third quarter, providing some much-needed momentum as the swing-state Democrat tries to hold on to his seat.
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“During his time proudly serving Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate, Bob Casey has earned his reputation as a tireless champion for our kids, our seniors, and Pennsylvania workers,” Tiernan Donohue, Casey's campaign manager, told the Washington Examiner in a statement on the haul.
“He fights day in and day out to lower costs, to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and to make sure we’re standing up to China," she added. "This impressive fundraising quarter shows Bob Casey is one of the most formidable incumbent Senators in the country, with the statewide support to prove it."
Casey had about $3.2 million in his campaign coffers at the end of the first quarter, FEC filings showed. His second quarter report is due to be filed on July 15.
The contest for Casey's seat is expected to be one of the most competitive of the 2024 cycle. It's also a must-win race for Democrats as they attempt to keep control of the chamber in the next Congress. Pollsters say Casey, the son of former Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey Sr. and the longest-serving Democratic senator in Pennsylvania history, enters his latest race as the slight favorite, with his candidacy being boosted by the power of incumbency and strong name recognition.
The Pennsylvania senator has long cast himself as a centrist Democrat, though Republicans are certain to attack his support for most of President Joe Biden's legislative agenda. He has also begun to face questions over his views on abortion, especially as a staunch Catholic.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee, the GOP's Senate campaign arm, has been trying to recruit former Bridgewater executive David McCormick to get in the race. A Pennsylvania political group launched by McCormick, who lost the 2022 GOP Senate primary for the vacant seat eventually won by Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), said Wednesday that it had raised more than $1 million from May 2 to June 5.
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A state financial disclosure form showed that the group, Pennsylvania Rising, raised the bulk of the haul through a single donation from Jeffrey Yass, the state's richest person and a longtime GOP megadonor. The rest of the money came from several dozen small-dollar donors.
"It's time for Pennsylvania Republicans to start winning again, and we do that by devoting resources to candidates who can bring home a victory this November,” McCormick said in a statement, which did not address a 2024 bid. “I'm proud that Pennsylvania Rising hit the ground running and am grateful to all those who are supporting this team effort."