Farnese aims to wipe out debt before election with aggressive fundraising push

PHILADELPHIA-With his election virtually assured but his campaign still deeply in debt after a fiercely competitive primary, Democratic state Senate candidate Larry Farnese is preparing an aggressive fundraising push over the next two months.

Farnese has 11 fundraisers scheduled between now and late October, his campaign manager told PolitickerPA.com, and four more could still be arranged before Election Day. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter is scheduled to attend a fundraiser Oct. 23, and City Councilmen Jim Kenney and Frank DiCicco will attend an event Sept. 19.

After narrowly winning the April primary to replace retiring state Sen. Vince Fumo (D-Philadelphia) in the 1st Senatorial District, Farnese's campaign was almost half-a-million dollars in debt in late May. Much of that debt from was from loans given by colleagues of Fumo.

Farnese campaign manager Renee Gilinger said the campaign had paid off about $60,000-$70,000 of the debt, acknowledging that "a substantial amount" still remains. She said debts to small vendors had been fulfilled, staff members had been paid and the campaign was confident the remaining balance could be taken care of by the election, with money left to spare for voter turnout and other Election Day efforts in November.

"Obviously we want to settle our debt," Gilinger said. "That's very important to us that we make sure all of our debt from the primary is paid off.

Farnese's opponents in the primary tried to use support from Fumo's allies as evidence that the Center City lawyer was a surrogate for the indicted incumbent. Gilinger said the campaign's fundraising base has expanded significantly since the primary.

"Those folks are obviously part of our base of support and we're really grateful for their support," she said. "But the primaries are over and folks know that Larry is going to be the next state senator. We've been humbled by the amount of support that has come in."

Farnese faces Republican underdog Jack Morley in November, a virtual unknown to most voters in the district, where Democrats vastly outnumber Republicans. Despite minimal campaigning by Morley, Gilinger insisted Farnese would continue to campaign hard.

Larry's taking this election very seriously, of course," she said. "He's got a heavy, full schedule of canvassing and community events. He'll work just as hard as he did in the primary. You never want to take anything for granted."