By Mike Tony
Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Republican incumbents have vastly outgained their Democratic challengers in contributions in West Virginia’s four federal races during this election cycle from July 2019 through Oct. 14. The funding edge has been powered largely by political action committees while their opponents have eschewed corporate PAC money, relying instead on individual donations.
Federal Election Commission campaign finance reports show broad-based corporate support for the GOP officeholders, especially among groups in the health care and fossil fuel industries.
Senate
The campaign for Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., in her bid for a second six-year term in the Senate has collected and spent far more than that of Democratic opponent Paula Jean Swearengin, who has sworn off corporate PAC money in her second Senate campaign after finishing behind Sen. Joe Manchin in the 2018 Democratic primary.
The Capito campaign’s total contribution haul of $4,170,868 has consisted of a nearly even split between individual donations and committee contributions. The incumbent’s campaign has garnered support from a wide array of PACs for health care-related groups, including UnitedHealth Group Incorporated, the National Association of Dental Plans, the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement, the American Health Care Association, the National Community Pharmacists Association, the American Pharmacists Association, the American Optometric Association and the American Academy of Ophthalmology…
