Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts, who will seek his eighth term in Congress next year, is raising more money than his challenger and has nearly five times as much campaign cash in the bank, new finance reports show.

But Democrat Lois Herr has raked in twice as much money from individual donors as Pitts in the last three months, which she believes is a sign voters are enthusiastic about her third bid for the 16th Congressional District seat.

"It shows that I am more in touch with people," said Herr, a 67-year-old retired executive from Elizabethtown. "It shows that Rep. Pitts is out of touch with the people of his district."

A spokesman for Pitts took issue with the challenger's claims and said Herr is simply unable to raise money from political action committees, the source of most of the congressman's campaign cash.

"Someone as liberal as Lois Herr simply isn't going to do well in Lancaster County," said the spokesman, Gabe Neville. "She's already lost against Joe Pitts twice, and she's badly trailing in fundraising once again.

"She isn't raising PAC money because they don't want to waste money on a losing campaign," he said.

Their campaign finance reports, filed last week, detail fundraising and spending in April, May and June.

Pitts' campaign, Friends of Joe Pitts, raised $70,700 and spent $24,514 in those three months. So far in the 2010 election cycle it has raised $105,603 and spent $91,693.

Pitts has $177,829 on hand.

In April, May and June, his campaign took in $20,900 from 26 individuals — an average of $804 each — and $300 more in smaller, unitemized contributions from supporters.

More than 77 percent of Pitts' campaign money for the 2010 election — or $81,500 — comes from political action committees representing energy, technology, pharmaceutical, banking and other interests.

Herr's campaign, Herr 2010, raised $44,647 in the last three months — all but $250 of it in contributions from individuals — and spent $7,239. It has $37,408 on hand.

Herr's report names 42 contributors who gave a combined $28,240. That averages out to about $672 per donor.

Herr also is raising money through ActBlue.com, a Cambridge, Mass.-based political action committee that works with Democratic candidates to collect contributions over the Web. She listed $16,157 in contributions made through the site over the last three months, but her report does not say how many individual donors there were.

ActBlue reports that, to date, 150 supporters of Herr have given $21,379 to her campaign through the site. That averages out to about $143 per contribution.

Herr's campaign also received a $250 contribution from Friends of John Cordisco, an attorney and former state legislator from Fairless Hills.

Those who gave at least $1,000 to Herr's campaign are: Ernest Adelman, an attorney and priest from Moro, Ill. ($2,400); Jessica L. Ledbetter, a rancher from Gardnerville, Nevada ($2,400); Nancy L. Wender, a psychotherapist from New York ($2,400); Margaret B. Brown, a retiree from Holtwood ($2,400); Jose Urdaneta, a photographer and Lancaster City councilman ($2,000); J. Brian Adams, a mathematician from Lancaster ($1,440); Martha Lester Harris, a software developer from Lancaster ($1,000); Henry Jordan, a retiree from Chester Springs, Chester County ($1,000); Tessie and Jim Sharp, retirees from Goodyear, Ariz. ($1,000); Thomas Wolf, a businessman, and Frances Wolf of Mount Wolf ($1,000).

Pitts' campaign got $2,400 from Julie Carr, a lobbyist from Arlington, Va., and $1,000 each from Gregory Bach, a physician from Hamburg; Sam Beiler, the owner of Auntie Anne's from Lancaster; Dana Chryst, chief executive officer of the Jay Group; James Herr, chairman of Herr Foods in Nottingham; Miriam Herr, a homemaker from Nottingham; Donald Horn Sr., an executive from Millersville; Jerry Hostetter, a hospital executive from Lancaster; Edward A. Leo, a farmer from Kennett Square; Perry Mahaffy, a nurse from Chadds Ford; Donald Needham, a mushroom farmer from Chatham; John Porter, a hospital executive from Ephrata; Edward Satell, an executive from Malvern; David G. Williams, an engineer from Lititz; and Jerry Yeatman, a mushroom farmer from Avondale.

Pitts, 69, lives in Kennett Square, Chester County. He is a former school teacher who served 24 years in the state House before being elected in 1996 to replace Republican Bob Walker in the so-called "Pennsylvania Dutch" seat.

Pitts spent $621,729 on his 2008 re-election campaign — a record for him — and received 56 percent of the vote, according to federal data. Pitts' Democratic challenger, Bruce Slater, spent $88,274 and got 39 percent.

Herr ran unsuccessfully against Pitts in 2006 and 2004. She raised $313,572 and spent $317,166 on her last run, and said she hopes to raise at least that amount again for the 2010 election.

In 2004, she brought in $86,646 and spent $82,737, according to FEC data.

The 16th district covers Lancaster County, southern Chester County and a small portion of Berks County, including the city of Reading.

Pitts' report can be viewed at tinyurl.com/luelap. Herr's can be found at tinyurl.com/nrayyr.

E-mail: tmurse@lnpnews.com