Pennsylvania Democrats Keep State House Majority By Aligning With Trump And Using Billionaire Funds

Democrats managed to hang onto a thin, 102-101 majority in the Pennsylvania House, despite voters swinging Republican in the general election. They did it by spending big, using out-of-state billionaire money, and, in at least one case, aligning messaging with Trump.

Democrats, who want you to trust them to spend your tax dollars, spent roughly $4 million on a race in which a total of just 32,763 people voted. They did it to keep vulnerable state Rep. Frank Burns in office and hold onto their tenuous majority in the House.

Burns, a Democrat, was the incumbent candidate in Republican majority Cambria County. It is so Republican there that one day the seat will flip to red, and when it does, it probably will remain Republican for years. But it hasn’t flipped yet. Burns is the only Democrat who won a race in the county.

In Cambria, Trump got 70 percent of the votes, and Harris got 30 percent. In the Senate race, Democrat Bob Casey got 32 percent, and Republican Dave McCormick received 66 percent. That near 70-to-30-percent split favoring Republicans played out in the races for attorney general, auditor general, and state treasurer. But in the race for state representative, Frank Burns received 51 percent of the votes over Republican Amy Bradley’s 49 percent. With 16,815 votes, Burns beat Bradley by 867 votes. His victory means the Democrats will hang onto power in the Pennsylvania House and set the agenda for the coming session.  

Burn attained victory by presenting himself as a Trump guy in television commercials, even though Trump endorsed Bradly. His ads used recordings of Trump saying, “You’re fired!” directed at Bradley. Democrats printed yard signs that said, “Republicans for Burns” and placed them around the county near Trump signs.

Local voters may not think of a small, rural state House race as a target for funding from out-of-state leftist millionaires and billionaires, but a look at Burns’ financial reports is a window into how Democrats move money in this and other races around the country and hints at who he owes for funding his victory.

Pennsylvania Department of State campaign finance reports going back to 2008 show that the Committee to Reelect Frank Burns fund rarely had more than $100,000, and often much less for campaign spending. That is typical spending for a race of this size in Pennsylvania. His May 13, 2024, financial filing showed he had $40,000 on hand. But as I predicted in a previous report, his Oct. 25 financial report shows a huge infusion of cash, $3.1 million, and $255,000 in in-kind donations.

Who desperately wanted Burns to Win? The Democrat Party.

The previous financial reporting period ended on May 13. Pennsylvania’s House Democratic Campaign Committee strategically started making big donations to Burns just after the previous reporting ended, concealing his financial backers until 11 days before the election when the next report was due.

“It goes to the fact that Pennsylvania is the Keystone State still. We’re the largest swing state in the country. The progressive left fully understands that and that is why they have been flooding Pennsylvania with millions — and billions when you add it all up — of dollars to try to turn Pennsylvania blue,” Matt Brouillette, president and CEO of Commonwealth Partners Chamber of Entrepreneurs, told The Federalist.

The House Democratic Campaign Committee made the following donations to Burns:

May 15: $25,000

June 10: $35,000

June 28: $41,000

July 8: $184,500

July 26: $281,000

Aug. 28: $115,000

Sept. 3: $148,500

Sept. 4: $940,000

Sept. 27: $300,000

Oct. 3: $293,000

Oct. 9: $300,000

Oct. 17: $300,000

Oct. 24: $350,000

Nov. 1: $172,000

The cash total is $3,485,000. In addition to the above cash dumps, the House Democratic Campaign Committee and the Pennsylvania Democrat Party gave Burns $185,000 in in-kind donations of advertising design, production, the cost of postage, online help, and staff, for a total of at least $3.67 million in aid — all to capture those 16,815 Cambria County votes.

Where does the Pennsylvania House Democratic Campaign Committee get its money? The Washington, D.C., based Political Action Committee (PAC) For America’s Future-PA, supported by the States Project.

“We support majority-making candidates to run evidence-based, effective campaigns and win state legislative majorities that are committed to a healthy, prosperous, and sustainable future for all,” the PAC website reads.

The PAC donated almost $4 million ($3,948,467) to the House Democratic Campaign Committee. It also gave directly to other Pennsylvania Democratic candidates. Anna Payne lost her bid for a seat in the Pennsylvania House to incumbent Republican Joe Hogan in Bucks County. Payne received $52,500 from the PAC For America’s Future. The PAC donated to Anna Thomas ($28,333), Hadley Haas ($32,000), and Anand Patel ($230,333), who all lost in state House races. Jim Wertz received $37,500, ran for state Senate, and lost. Incumbent state Reps. Brian Munroe ($117,000) and Jim Haddock ($37,000) both won their races.

“I give the Democrats credit for helping their donors from across the country to understand that a political dollar in California or New York can have a greater impact for the progressive cause in a state like Pennsylvania,” Brouillette said. “Democrats have figured out how to direct resources from areas where it doesn’t have a great impact, to places like Pennsylvania, where you can determine the fate of not only that state, but the country.”

In total, the PAC For America’s Future-PA spent more than $11 million between May 14 and Oct. 21. The PAC for America’s Future gave heavily in Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada, campaign finance reports show.  

Donors to PAC for America’s Future included many out-of-state leftist millionaires and billionaires:

Barry Munger

Deborah J. Simon

Jonathan Soros

Gideon Friedman

David Karp

Lynn Schusterman

Steven Laufer

Wendy Munger

Samuel R. Walton

John A. Pritzker

The PAC also has some famous donors:

Sarah Jessica Parker

Jimmy Fallon

Oliver Platt

Laura Jeanne (Reese) Witherspoon

Andrew Cohen of NBC

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Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.

The Federalist