Gov. candidate dials rival's hubby for dollars
U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz inadvertently dialed the husband of rival gubernatorial candidate Katie McGinty while making fundraising calls. The Democratic Congressional Committee referenced the incident in an email to campaigns.
The Midwestern finance director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee emailed a warning Wednesday to all the party's House campaigns in her territory: Don't do what Allyson Schwartz did the other day.
"This is why you do donor research! Even if you're really busy and even if your candidate doesn't pay attention to it," wrote Molly Ritner, above a link to a cautionary tale.
It seems that Schwartz, while slogging through fundraising calls Monday evening, rang up Karl Hausker of Chester County, husband of her rival for the Democratic nomination for governor, Katie McGinty. Awwwkward!
Schwartz, a U.S. representative from Montgomery County, started into a pitch about her campaign when Hausker politely interrupted to tell her of his allegiance.
"It was an inadvertent dial," Schwartz campaign spokesman Mark Bergman told the Harrisburg Patriot-News, which reported on the incident Tuesday. "There was no conversation about money, and Allyson appreciated how gracious he was about it," Bergman continued.
Ritner was referring to the standard practice of having a fundraising aide manage a candidate's cold-call lists, weeding out prospects that might prove the least bit embarrassing. There was a helpful link to the Patriot's story in her email.
Schwartz was the chief fundraiser for the DCCC in this cycle until she stepped down from that post to run for governor; earlier, she had been a candidate recruiter for the committee.