Arden Dier

Newser staff

(NEWSER) – When her repeated calls failed to convince U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania to vote against Betsy DeVos as secretary of education when the vote is held Monday, Katherine Fritz decided to "buy" his vote instead.

Aware that DeVos has donated about $55,800 to the Republican's campaign, the teacher at a Philadelphia community college turned to GoFundMe to raise that exact amount, report Mashable and New York Magazine. On Thursday, her effort was "getting more traffic than any other active campaign," a GoFundMe rep told the Huffington Post. The campaign now has beat its target and raised more than $62,000. Toomey won't see any of it since bribing a politician is indeed a no-no. The money will instead go to three education groups—but Fritz hopes to make a point anyway.

The campaign is "about using satire to point out the various ways in which our elected officials can—legally!—take money from the same people that now seek political office," she writes on GoFundMe.

Of course, Fritz still hopes Toomey will vote no on DeVos; the Huffington Post notes the moderate senator had earlier this week been identified as the likeliest one to flip, though he has gone out of his way to quash that idea. Two Republican senators have said they won't support DeVos. If one other colleague joins them and all Democrats oppose her, DeVos' confirmation would be denied. But for now, that appears unlikely to happen.

"I will absolutely be voting for Betsy DeVos ... I'm a big fan," Toomey tells the Philadelphia Inquirer, signifying next week's vote will likely end in a tie—one that Vice President Mike Pence would then break. (Toomey keeps a candy desk.)

This story originally appeared on Newser:

Teacher Raises $60K to 'Buy' Senator's Vote on DeVos

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