Latest federal campaign finance reports show Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale has been able to successfully leverage his name recognition and establishment ties in the Democrats “money primary” for the 10th Congressional District nomination.

DePasquale’s campaign committee reported raising $304,539 in the last quarter of 2019, and ending the year with $468,461 on hand.

His primary opponent, Hershey-based attorney and author Tom Brier, reported raising $80,414, ending his string of topping $100,000 for three straight quarters. But with $203,393 on hand entering the year, Brier said he has the resources he needs to run a robust race for the Democratic nomination.

The winner of the primary will face Rep. Scott Perry this fall. Perry, the incumbent Republican, is unopposed in the GOP primary as he seeks a fifth term in Congress. An earlier challenger, Bobby Jeffries, has since dropped from the race.

Perry’s year-end report showed his campaign committee with $621,928 cash on hand, including $351,676 raised in the fourth quarter. all of which he can conserve for the general election campaign.

Of DePasquale’s total haul of $664,337 for the current campaign cycle, $556,228 has come from individual donors; $106,281 is from political action committees. Perry has reported receiving $222,053 from PACs. Brier has received no PAC money, a distinction he has been proud to highlight in the campaign’s early going.

The race in the 10th is being listed by national analysts as one of the hottest Congressional contests in the country in the 2020 cycle, in part because of the spirited battle political newcomer George Scott gave Perry in 2018.

National Democrats are also making no bones about their excitement over DePasquale’s candidacy, given the visibility of his statewide post, which he is term-limited out of after this year, and his past service as a state House member from York. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee named DePasquale to the first list of challengers in its “Red to Blue” program, a list of candidates that it sees as having the best chance of flipping a House seat now in Republican hands to the Democratic column.

The district includes Dauphin County and parts of York and Cumberland counties; it includes the cities of Harrisburg and York.