What recent fundraising tells us about the state of the Philly mayor’s race, in five charts

Philadelphia’s mayoral election remains a wide-open race with a crowded field of candidates, and that is reflected in the most recent campaign finance reports.

Five candidates have each collected more than $1 million in donations, and two candidates who are self-funding their campaigns have pumped more cash in as the race enters its final stretch.

According to campaign-finance reports filed with the city Tuesday, the 12 candidates running for mayor and outside groups supporting them have already spent about $17.5 million ahead of the May 16 primary election. That’s already more than the $15 million that was reportedly spent in 2015, the last time there was a competitive primary for mayor — and there are six weeks left to go.

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Allan Domb, a former City Council member and real estate magnate who is running for mayor, continues to be the primary driver of the expensive price tag for what is otherwise shaping up to be a quiet race. He poured $2 million of his own money into his campaign last month, for a total of $7 million in contributions to his own campaign since the race began. (For context, the other campaigns raised a total of about $8 million combined, excluding their own self-funding.)

Domb had already triggered the “millionaire’s amendment” of Philly’s campaign finance rules, which allows all campaigns to collect donations up to double the usual cap if the race includes a self-funding candidate. Mayoral contenders can now take in contributions of up to $6,200 per year from individuals and $25,200 per year from political committees.

» READ MORE: Big money is flooding into the Philly mayor’s election. Here’s how it’s shaping the race.

Jeff Brown, a longtime ShopRite proprietor, has also put his own money into the race, loaning $800,000 to his campaign this year, meaning he’s spent more than $1 million himself.

The filings show there are clear tiers among the candidates and could demonstrate who has momentum heading into the final stretch.

Brown brought in the most money from donors through the first three months of 2023, raking in slightly more than $1.2 million. In the same period, former City Councilmember Helen Gym raised about $767,000. Former City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart took in $642,000, and Domb and ex-Councilmember Cherelle Parker each raised about $600,000.

Those five candidates far out-raised two other serious contenders. Former Councilmembers Maria Quiñones Sánchez and Derek Green each raised less than $215,000 so far this year. Republican David Oh, a former Council member running in the GOP primary unopposed, raised less than $15,000 so far this year but has more than $200,000 in the bank.

Here’s a look at what each candidate has raised (and self-funded) since declaring their candidacies last year:

Four candidates who will appear on the ballot — State Rep. Amen Brown, retired Judge James DeLeon, Warren Bloom Sr., and Delscia Gray — did not file campaign finance reports by Tuesday night’s deadline.

It’s important to note that campaigns aren’t the only entities spending money to get their message out. Outside groups, also called super PACs, are supporting several candidates. Those groups can raise and spend an unlimited amount of cash, but they aren’t allowed to coordinate with the campaigns.

Three candidates — Parker, Gym, and Jeff Brown — have thus far benefited from super PACs that have spent money to elevate their message.

For instance, Gym’s campaign didn’t start running television commercials until this week, but her message was still getting out through a super PAC called Fighting Together for Philadelphia that ran television ads on her behalf. The group’s filing this week showed it is largely funded by the American Federation of Teachers, which contributed $500,000 last month.

A super PAC backing Parker took in nearly $1 million this year, most of it from building trades unions. And it remains unclear who is behind a dark-money funded group that spent nearly $3 million on an early ad blitz to back Jeff Brown. Most of its funding came from a nonprofit entity that has not been legally required to disclose its donors.

And at least one other candidate could still see support from a super PAC.

An outside group called Philadelphia Leadership PAC that organized recently is expected to back Rhynhart. Paperwork filed Tuesday shows the group was seeded with a $100,000 contribution from Richard Vague, a billionaire tech investor and former state banking secretary who has been one of Rhynhart’s strongest financial backers.

Why does this all matter? Money pays for advertising, and advertising can turn television viewers into voters. Here’s a look at how much the candidates and the super PACs backing them have spent on advertising so far this election cycle:

Candidates with strong backing from outside groups stand to get their messages out in a way that can make a splash — or at least compete with Domb, who’s blanketed the airwaves.

Domb has the most money in the bank — no surprise there — but aside from him, the only candidate who has more than $1 million on hand going into the final six weeks is Gym.

That makes sense because Gym was, until this week, the only top-tier candidate who hadn’t spent any money on a big television advertising blitz. Some campaigns choose to save as much money as they can for the final weeks of the race so their advertising can influence undecided voters who are just tuning in.

Rhynhart has more than $850,000 in the bank, while Parker has just above $600,000.

The amount of money the campaigns have available heading into the final weeks also shows how fundraising (and putting your own money into your campaign) doesn’t itself tell the whole story. For example, while Brown has raised more money than Rhynhart since the start of the campaign, he’s also spent more and, as of last month, had less than $450,000 on hand.

The figures also tell us which campaigns may be operating on shoestring budgets. Advertising can cost tens of thousands of dollars a week, and campaigns typically try to maintain a presence on television through election day.

Only three serious contenders had less than $500,000 in the bank as of last month, and one of them, Jeff Brown, has showed an ability to self-fund.

The other two, Quiñones Sánchez and Green, both had less than $350,000 on hand. Other candidates with more than twice that could have more ability to sway voters in the final stretch.