During the third quarter that ended Sept. 30, Herr raised $86,000 from individual contributors, and U.S. Rep. Joseph Pitt raised $26,000.

“I really think individuals are so concerned about what’s going on in government that they are willing to invest personally in my campaign,” Herr said during a telephone interview.

Pitts, however, has $226,866 more than Herr with less than three weeks before the Nov. 7 election.

Pitts, a Chester County resident seeking his sixth term, has $271,411 in his campaign coffers. Herr, of Elizabethtown, has just $44,545.

Gabe Neville — Pitts’s chief of staff in Washington, D.C. — said much of Herr’s money comes from interests outside Lancaster County. Among them are the National Organization for Women and Democracy for America, a grass-roots organization founded by former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean.

“A large portion of it is from left-wing activists all over the country and does not represent local support,” he said.

Herr said those organizations have members active in Lancaster County. She said the support of individuals from as far away as New York and California indicates a general dissatisfaction with Republicans.

Pitts and Herr are competing in Pennsylvania’s 16th Congressional District, which covers all of Lancaster County and portions of Berks and Chester counties. It’s the second time they have squared off. Pitts won in 2004 by more than a 2-to-1 margin.

PACs have donated a total of $258,302 to the Pitts and Herr campaigns, with Pitts receiving about 96 percent of that amount.

Herr’s campaign manager, Gregory Paulson, said in a press release that Pitts received money from PACs representing the health care industry, prescription drug companies, financing institutions and energy companies.

Paulson said Pitts “has been courting the special interests that dictate the Republican agenda in Congress.”

“Pitts is held captive by the Republican Party and special-interest groups,” he said in the release.

Neville responded by saying Pitts also is backed by pro-family PACs and large employers in Lancaster County.

“Lois Herr has raised almost no money from that sector, and if I were her, I wouldn’t be bragging about it,” Neville said. “The fact she only has $44,000 in the bank is proof the Democratic Party doesn’t consider her a viable candidate.”

A third candidate in this year’s race, independent John Murphy, said his Oct. 15 report is late but would be given to the Federal Elections Commission within the next several days.

Murphy said he has raised $5,000 in individual contributions and loaned the campaign $8,000 of his own money. He said he won’t accept contributions from PACs.

“I don’t take corporate money,” Murphy said. “Both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are owned by corporate finance.”

Pitts has raised $448,279 for the 2006 race and Herr $244,947. Pitts has spent $425,670 on the campaign and Herr $218,045.

Herr, however, has a $29,391 edge in individual contributions over Pitts, raising a total of $223,042.

She has spent $4,838 of her own money. Pitts has spent none. blog comments powered by Disqus