Follow the Money, Part 3: who's funding Pennsylvania's four battleground House races, campaigns and outside groups

This is the third in a weekly True News series following the money in the 2026 election, through Election Day on November 3. Every figure comes from reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. True News has no political affiliation and endorses no party or candidate.

Part 1 looked at Pennsylvania's four closest U.S. House races, the 1st, 7th, 8th and 10th districts, with figures through June 30. The campaigns have now reported through September 30. The eight major-party nominees have raised $49.3 million in all, $12.4 million of it in July, August and September.

For the first time in this series, this part also counts the outside money: what super PACs, party committees and other groups have reported spending to support or oppose these candidates since the May 19 primary. In these four races it comes to about $34.6 million, more than four-fifths of the $41.4 million the eight campaigns have spent all cycle.

The races, by the numbers

Campaign figures run through September 30 and cover the whole 2026 cycle; the amount in parentheses is what each campaign raised in the quarter.

1st District (Bucks County and part of Montgomery County): Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick raised $7,774,187 ($1,039,256), spent $9,810,611 and had $2,386,107 on hand. Democrat Bob Harvie, a Bucks County commissioner, raised $2,895,901 ($888,346), spent $2,174,883 and had $721,019 on hand.

Outside money, about $6.0 million: $0.7 million supporting Fitzpatrick and $3.5 million opposing him, including $3.0 million from HMP; $0.1 million supporting Harvie and $1.6 million opposing him, including $1.3 million from Defending America PAC.

7th District (the Lehigh Valley): Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie raised $5,167,023 ($809,618), spent $3,094,596 and had $2,175,667 on hand. Democrat Bob Brooks, a former firefighter and union president, raised $4,991,635 ($2,599,420), spent $3,705,480 and had $1,286,155 on hand.

Outside money, about $7.9 million: $0.5 million supporting Mackenzie and $4.8 million opposing him, including $3.7 million from HMP and $0.5 million from LCV Victory Fund; $1.2 million supporting Brooks and $1.4 million opposing him, including $0.75 million from Safety & Affordability PAC.

8th District (Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and the northeast): Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan raised $6,197,786 ($963,200), spent $5,341,844, had $909,095 on hand and reported $677,068 in debts. Democrat Paige Cognetti, the mayor of Scranton, raised $7,095,684 ($2,486,095), spent $6,145,341 and had $950,343 on hand.

Outside money, about $9.7 million: $0.7 million supporting Bresnahan and $5.7 million opposing him, including $2.7 million from HMP, $0.9 million from Giffords PAC and $0.8 million from AB PAC; $1.1 million supporting Cognetti and $2.2 million opposing her, including $1.2 million from Safety & Affordability PAC.

10th District (Harrisburg and York): Republican Rep. Scott Perry raised $6,457,001 ($1,262,076), spent $4,893,167, had $1,645,753 on hand and reported $383,529 in debts. Democrat Janelle Stelson raised $8,689,754 ($2,325,686), spent $6,187,777 and had $2,517,215 on hand.

Outside money, about $11.0 million, the most of the four: $2.0 million supporting Perry, including $0.7 million from Freedom Caucus Fund, and $4.1 million opposing him, including $2.2 million from HMP and $0.8 million from EDF Action Votes; $1.3 million supporting Stelson and $3.7 million opposing her, including $2.6 million from No Going Back PAC.

What stands out

Three of the four Democratic challengers out-raised the Republican incumbents from July through September: Brooks raised more than three times what Mackenzie did, Cognetti more than two and a half times what Bresnahan did, and Stelson nearly twice what Perry did. Fitzpatrick out-raised Harvie in the quarter.

Fitzpatrick also spent the most: $5.0 million in the quarter, nearly five times what he raised, and his cash on hand fell from $6.4 million at the end of June to $2.4 million. Stelson now has the most cash of the eight. In the 8th District, Cognetti and Bresnahan ended September within about $41,000 of each other.

In all four districts, outside groups have spent more opposing the Republican incumbent than opposing the Democrat. The largest single outside spender is HMP, which reported about $11.5 million against the four incumbents combined.

Who's funding the campaigns

The Democrats raised most of their money from individual donors: 87 percent for Harvie, 85 percent for Cognetti, 80 percent for Stelson and 78 percent for Brooks. The Republican incumbents drew more from political action committees and from joint fundraising committees, which collect money from donors and PACs and pass it along to several campaigns at once. PACs gave Fitzpatrick 34 percent of his total, Bresnahan 26 percent, Mackenzie 25 percent and Perry 12 percent; transfers from joint fundraising committees made up 38 percent of Mackenzie's and Fitzpatrick's totals, 35 percent of Bresnahan's and 24 percent of Perry's. Individuals gave Perry 63 percent of his money, Bresnahan 38 percent, Mackenzie 36 percent and Fitzpatrick 24 percent.

How True News counted the outside money

The outside-spending figures are a True News tally of FEC filings through October 16. They count each group's regular reports plus the 24- and 48-hour notices filed since its last regular report, with duplicate and amended entries removed, and only spending dated after the May 19 primary. They are preliminary: groups can amend their filings. Amounts are rounded, so the parts may not add exactly to the totals. To check any figure, search the group's name on the FEC's independent expenditures page. Outside groups may not coordinate with the campaigns, and the money they spend is not given to the candidates.

What these numbers don't show

Party committees' coordinated spending, and ads that never name a candidate, are reported differently and are not included. The campaigns file one more report before the election, due October 22 and covering through October 14, and contributions of $1,000 or more after that must be reported within 48 hours. True News will update these races when those reports come in.

See every candidate

Every Pennsylvania candidate for Congress, with their latest numbers and a breakdown of where the money came from, is on the Pennsylvania candidates page. Select Details next to any name, then follow the link to the official FEC record to search individual donors.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/177