Dent ridicules opponent's 2Q fundraising

U.S. Rep. Charles DentU.S. Rep. Charles Dent (R-Allentown) is drawing attention to his opponent's fundraising numbers, specifically her struggles in securing donations from within the 15th Congressional District.

Dent raised about $230,000 in the second fundraising quarter, barely more than the $226,000 raised by Democrat Sam Bennett. Dent did finish the reporting period with significantly more cash on hand, boasting about $686,000 compared with $353,000 for Bennett.

But in a statement last week, Dent's campaign said a closer look at Bennett's campaign finance reports revealed her lack of support within the district, which stretches across Lehigh, Northampton, Berks and Montgomery counties.

Saying Bennet was "miserably failing at raising financial support from people in our community," Dent's campaign said that 87 percent of Bennett's itemized, non-PAC donations came from outside the district. Of the $154,000 in itemized contributions above $200 Bennett collected, only $19,820 came from donors in the district, the campaign said.

"It's ridiculous," Dent Campaign Manager Shawn Millan said in the statement, which also said that Bennett had raised more money from out of state than from district residents. "You go through her reports and you see street addresses for California but nothing from Catasauqua."

The attacks by Dent's campaign came less than a week after Bennett called for a "clean campaign pledge" and said she would not engage in "negative personal attacks."

The Bennett campaign, for its part, did not take dispute Dent's assertions, but noted that they failed to take into account individual contributions under $200. Federal law does not require those donations to be itemized.

"There goes Charlie Dent again, hiding behind his attack dog Shawn Millan instead of focusing on the issues," Bennett campaign manager Kathryn Seck said in an e-mail. She accused Dent of "relying heavily [on] Big Lobbyist PAC money.

"[Bennett] is running a grassroots campaign with average contributions of a couple hundred bucks, and nowhere is that more evident than the online contributions where over the course of the campaign she's raised $140,000," Seck added. "The netroots have really boosted Sam's campaign for change."