These Pennsylvania Senate candidates raised the most and lost their primaries


General elections for 25 of 49 seats in the Pennsylvania State Senate will take place on November 8, 2022. State senatorial primary elections were held on May 17, 2022.

This article details the five candidates in each party who raised the most money and lost their primary election. In the 2022 election cycle, nine of 22 Republican primaries and four of 22 Democratic primaries were contested. The losing candidates are shown along with the percentage of the vote they received compared to the primary winner. In cases where the race was pushed to a runoff, vote percentages for both advancing candidates are included.

Top fundraisers with unsuccessful primary campaigns this cycle

This information comes from candidate reports to the Pennsylvania Department of State covering the period of January 1, 2021, through May 2, 2022.

The Democratic candidates who raised the most money and lost their primary were:

  • Paul Prescod – $136,130 – District 8 (Lost primary 39% – 61%)
  • Emanuel Wilkerson – $0 – District 24 (Lost primary 27% – 73%)

The Republican candidates who raised the most money and lost their primary were:

  • Mike Miller – $47,387 – District 36 (Lost primary 41% – 59%)
  • Omy Maldonado – $28,128 – District 14 (Lost primary 21% – 49%)
  • David Moyer – $6,300 – District 24 (Lost primary 32% – 68%)
  • Cindy Miller – $0 – District 14 (Lost primary 30% – 49%)
  • Jake Roberts – $0 – District 38 (Lost primary 32% – 68%)

Top fundraisers with unsuccessful primary campaigns last cycle

This information comes from candidate reports to the Pennsylvania Department of State covering the period of January 1, 2019, through December 31, 2020.

The Democratic candidates who raised the most money and lost their primary in 2020 were:

  • Lawrence M. Farnese Jr. – $1,026,939 – District 1 (Lost primary 43% – 57%)
  • Brett Burman – $334,616 – District 9 (Lost primary 46% – 54%)
  • Daylin Leach – $180,577 – District 17 (Lost primary 35% – 65%)
  • Don Vymazal – $76,579 – District 19 (Lost primary 32% – 51%)
  • Craig Lehman – $73,293 – District 13 (Lost primary 46% – 54%)

The Republican candidates who raised the most money and lost their primary in 2020 were:

  • John Herm Suplizio – $556,122 – District 25 (Lost primary 31% – 59%)
  • Jeff Neff – $55,621 – District 37 (Lost primary 42% – 58%)
  • James Brown – $2,700 – District 25 (Lost primary 10% – 59%)

The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active Pennsylvania PACs submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of State. Federal PACs are not required to report to state agencies. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines. State or federal law may require filers to submit additional reports.

Report Name Report Due Date
2021 Annual (C7) 1/31/2022
2022 Pre-Primary (C1) 4/05/2022
2022 Pre-Primary (C2) 5/9/2022
2022 Post-Primary (C3) 6/20/2022
2022 Pre-General (C4) 9/22/2022
2022 Pre-General (C5) 10/31/2022
2022 Post-General (C6) 12/12/2022
2022 Annual (C7) 2/1/2023

This article is a joint publication from Ballotpedia and Transparency USA, who are working together to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections. Learn more about our work here.