John Fetterman, Dave McCormick pull in $261,000 in first months of unusual bipartisan fundraising efforts
The donors two the Pennsylvania senators' joint committee included a former Republican candidate for governor among others.
The unusual combined fundraising effort by U.S. Sens. John Fetterman and Dave McCormick hauled in just over $261,000 in its first few months this summer, according to a public disclosure filed Thursday.
Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat whose party loyalty has come under intense scrutiny, and McCormick, the state’s highest-ranking Republican, established the Common Ground PA joint fundraising committee in July.
McCormick’s campaign called it a donor-driven effort while Democratic critics of Fetterman were alarmed that he would help fundraising for the GOP at the same time as his own party was trying to win control of Congress.
The bipartisan duo ultimately raised and split the initial funds nearly evenly — with about $104,000 going to Fetterman’s political action committees, $93,000 going to McCormick’s committees and the rest to consultants or fees, according to a disclosure filed with the Federal Election Commission.
The list of 44 donors appeared to mostly include individuals who gave to other Republicans or those who had not donated to federal candidates in the current election cycle, according to The Inquirer’s review of the disclosure and other campaign records.
A few had donated recently to other Democratic candidates and causes — including the largest donor: Michael Jenkins, the manager of a New York-based trading firm, who gave $24,000.
The vast majority of the funds raised, about 85%, were from donors who listed Pennsylvania addresses, and almost all of them are executives at small or large corporations, the disclosure shows.
Scott Wagner, the 2018 Republican nominee for governor in Pennsylvania and wealthy business owner from York, gave about $5,200.
John B. Haines IV, the founder of a construction and construction materials company in Montgomery County, donated $15,000, which was the second largest donation.
David and Jacquelyn Jaindl, who have a family-owned turkey farming business in Lehigh County, each gave $12,500. So did Monica and Scott Sechler, who own the Bell & Evans poultry business in Lebanon County.
Among those who donated from out of state were James Tisch, the CEO of Loews, who gave $5,000. Four PACs representing corporations or interest groups also chipped in — the Allentown-based utility PPL, the National Restaurant Association, real estate developer Watson Land Company and the trucking company KL Harring Transportation.
Neither McCormick’s nor Fetterman’s campaign spokespeople responded to a request for comment Thursday.
The Pennsylvania senators set up the joint committee as McCormick, a former hedge fund leader, proved to be a successful fundraiser during his first two years in office while Fetterman’s own fundraising plummeted amid declining support from voters who helped elect him.
Fetterman has repeatedly said he won’t become a Republican. But he’s also taken strides to distance himself from the party while GOP leaders — including President Donald Trump — have said they’d welcome him with open arms.
In September, he appeared by video at the GOP midterm convention in Dallas to introduce McCormick on stage. According to the filing from Common Ground PA, most of the donations it received from July through September came one or two days after the convention, though dates on FEC filings aren’t always exact.
A statewide poll from The Inquirer, New York Times and Siena University found later in the month that most Pennsylvania voters consider Fetterman to be more of a Republican than a Democrat.
Fetterman had also begun raising money from large GOP donors last year. But as he considers running for reelection in 2028, his appeals to Republican donors have increased both through the joint fundraising committee and through his own campaign.
His own campaign website has been revamped in recent months. The website that had largely been in place since his 2022 campaign still contained platform points and called himself a “different kind of Democrat.” The site online now still uses that line but focuses on his mantras of “country over party” and “reject the extremes” while showcasing interviews in which he’s criticized his party.
It does not list any policy issues he supports.
