Democrat Conor Lamb outraised his GOP opponent in this month’s special congressional election in Western Pennsylvania by a nearly five-to-one margin over the first seven weeks of the year, according to new campaign finance filings Thursday night.

Republican state Rep. Rick Saccone’s poor fundraising — he raised just $703,000 from January 1 through February 21, compared to Lamb’s $3.3 million haul — has forced Republican outside groups to spend valuable dollars to drag Saccone across the finish line in a district President Donald Trump carried by nearly 20 percentage points.


Saccone spent $600,000 in the fundraising period and had only $303,000 in cash on hand as of February 21.

Saccone’s fundraising and spending paled in comparison to Lamb’s. Over the first seven weeks of 2018, Lamb’s campaign raised more than $3.3 million and spent over $2.9 million. The Democrat’s campaign had $837,000 in the bank as of February 21.

Republican outside groups have come to Saccone’s rescue, spending $9.1 million in the race thus far to boost the GOP nominee in the March 13 election. Congressional Leadership Fund, the super PAC with close ties to House Speaker Paul Ryan, has spent more than $3 million, and the National Republican Congressional Committee has shelled out $2.9 million.

In a sign of the self-perceived stakes for the White House, political outside groups close to Trump have also spent millions to back Saccone. America First Action has spent $1.1 million, and the Republican National Committee has spent a little more than $1 million.


Lamb, on the other hand, has been the beneficiary of only $1.1 million in spending to boost his campaign. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent $313,000 — but has been off the airwaves in Western Pennsylvania for more than two weeks.

More recently, Lamb was backed by spending from the PAC End Citizens United ($254,000) and super PAC Patriot Majority PAC ($243,000), two groups that typically support Democratic candidates.

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Despite the deluge of outside Republican spending, Lamb hasn’t been swamped on the airwaves in the district. Pro-Saccone forces are airing more ads than Lamb and his allies — but the gap is smaller than the financial disparity would suggest because Lamb, as a candidate, can purchase airtime at a lower rate than outside groups.

According to Advertising Analytics, 36 percent of the ads in the race on broadcast television have come from Lamb’s campaign. Saccone’s campaign has only accounted for 7 percent of the overall spot count.


Lamb’s financial strength is driven, in large part, by small-dollar donors. The vast majority of Lamb’s fundraising in the most recent filing period, nearly $3.2 million, came from individual contributors — and most of that, more than $1.8 million, came from contributors who gave less than $200. The campaign said in a press release earlier this week that the average contribution was $33.

Saccone, on the other hand, was more reliant on larger donors and political action committees. Of the $421,000 Saccone raised from individual donors, most of it ($314,000) came from those who gave $200 or more.

And Saccone raised $193,000 from political action committees — including donations from Ryan, Rep. Karen Handel (R-Ga.) and the National Rifle Association’s political arm — accounting for 28 percent of his total haul for the period.

Lamb raised less from PACs: $122,000, which made up 4 percent of his total for the period.

Elena Schneider contributed to this report.