Watch out!

[...] Source: Welch has half-a-million on hand… [...]

Hmmm..in kind donations from Act Blue?

I’d be curious to know how many of those donors are in the sixth district. I’m not being snarky, mind you. Just thinking about how a man who makes a living doling out venture capital money may have a large population of aspiring entrepreneurs from which to draw…

Perhaps, though, there are a lot of middle-of-the-road former Democrats now registered as Republicans in the sixth who are just putting their money where their hearts are.

Just curious. Hope a diligent reporter can answer the question.

Oh, for the record: Mr. Welch denies he donated money to ActBlue. I do have the donation reported on two different well-known campaign finance sources. But Welch has promised to deliver a resource indicating it isn’t so. It has been, though, two days since his self-imposed deadline to send me that source, and I still don’t have it.

Welch is a RINO hoping money wins out over principals.

How is he a RINO? Wouldn’t giving power to the D’s in the house make Schroeder a RINO? Being a career politician should not win out.

@ MeWonders:

Ask Welch why people would call him a RINO. I do believe he was a registered Democrat not all that long ago, and has supported Joe Sestak in the past.

I’m not at all suggesting he’s some sort of Progressive fifth-columnist or anything. But it isn’t exactly beyond the pale for someone to wonder if he’s a RINO, or not. The primary process will probably largely be about that precise issue.

Your remarks regarding Schroder indicate that you don’t know much about him. I personally know a bunch of registered Democrats that like him just fine because while he is conservative, he is also an independent thinker. Why do you think the party powers-that-be steered a self-funded primary challenger in his direction?

[Note: The Welch campaign has pointed me to a resource I was already familiar with that does not report a donation from him to the well-known Progressive PAC ActBlue. But they are still trying to figure out why other sites do have a record of such a donation.]

Me Wonders: I like Curt Schroeder. He is a conservative that is not a favorite with the GOP leadership because he doesn’t always tow the party line.

Gee…that just makes him more attractive.

Nothing is more annoying than a man with money trying to buy an election, even more annoying when he doesn’t live in the 6th district. We need more people of character in government than wealthy people. Steve Welsh should find another way to spend his money, perhaps start a foundation to benefit the less fortunate, instead of aiming for Congress with no experience.

I’m just curious — I’ve seen this phrase used a number of times now — is a three way race really a “crowded primary” ? Is that necessarily a bad thing?

@BRDakin:

Actually, you’ll have four, soon. Montgomery County middle-of-the-road Republican Howard Cohen has been telling people he’s entering the race.

Personally, I think there’s a small chance he’s just fishing around for some of Welch’s cash to be directed to his favorite candidates or causes. But that may be irrationally conspiratorial. It feels that way, though. Cohen and Welch will be aiming for the exact same voters. If someone wanted to try that little conspiracy theory out, you couldn’t pick a better person to do it with.

Also, Guy Ciarrocchi– Gerlach’s former chief of staff– is still wandering around with nothing to run for after falling short in his General Assembly run back in 2008. Until he definitively says he ISN’T running, you gotta’ wonder if he’ll jump in. Cohen attacking Welch’s base means perhaps someone attacking Schroder’s has a chance.

Finally, there were rumors of Mark Scott being encouraged to run by the Berks County GOP. If you have three people from Chester County and two from Montgomery County all running, perhaps a favorite son from Berks could squeak through.

Anyway, to more directly answer your question, I believe even three candidates is a lot for this area. The party apparatus really dislikes competitive primaries, and if they can’t be avoided tried to keep it down to two candidates. Otherwise you run the risk of someone with a really motivated base that has no chance of winning a general winning a balkanized primary.

In this case, luckily for the GOP, Curt Schroder has the most motivated base, and also happens to be a candidate with high name-recognition, bipartisan appeal, a lots of reformist legislation to his credit.

How much did Curt and Ryan raise? I have been immersed in work and think I missed their reports.