Will Balter’s cash lead secure an election win?

Democratic challenger for NY-24 Dana Balter outraised Republican incumbent Rep. John Katko, according to the most recent filings provided by the Federal Election Commission. Balter has outperformed Katko for two consecutive fundraising periods, closing up the most recent in a record-performing clip. Though enthusiasm is high, some interpretations of the results are still cautious.

Notably, Balter reported a significant number of individual contributions. During the first two week-plus period of Oct. 1 to Oct. 17, Balter’s campaign raised $367,199.44. More than 90 percent of this was raised from individual donations totaling $337,100.50. In the final days leading up to the midterm, Balter will enjoy a slight lead in cash on hand, with $621,383.64 remaining in her war chest.

“The congressman started with an enormous financial lead,” said Josh Levin, a spokesman for the Balter campaign.

“Dana’s fundraising, as impressive as it is and as happy as we are with it, really only means that we’ve been put on an equal footing in the final weeks of the campaign,” Levin added.

Katko collected $122,474.13 in contribution receipts, with approximately half, or $62,805.13 coming from individual donors during the first half of October. The incumbent’s campaign reported a remaining $522,610.25 of campaign funds.

While the numbers are encouraging for the Balter campaign, its representatives said they’re careful not to place too much optimism in the numbers.

At the start of this year’s third quarter, Katko reported having nearly $1.5 million more than Balter, and so the record-setting $1.5 million the Balter campaign raised from July 1 to Sept. 30 only leveled the playing field. For the first time throughout the duration of the campaign, Balter has taken the financial lead.

While Balter did receive a majority of her money from individual contributions, thousands of dollars poured in from political action committees (PACs) like the Washington D.C.-based EMILY’s List.

EMILY’s list aims to help elect pro-choice Democratic female candidates to office. Receipts show that Balter netted around $7,200 from EMILY’s List this year to date.

Katko’s FEC filings show that he took nearly three times as much money from PACs than Balter, and nearly twice the amount of transfers of funds from other authorized committees. PACs from Delta Airlines, Pfizer, and AT&T were listed as some of Katko’s most generous donors.

Though some of the recent polling data show the race to be neck and neck, cash on hand may not be the only thing affecting the prospects for the candidates. In addition to the monies from the EMILY’s List endorsement, the PAC also provided Balter’s campaign with boots on the ground.

Tonya Williams is the director of strategic communications for EMILY’s List. She was sent up from D.C. earlier this month to assist the Balter campaign, and in particular a recent town hall on the Syracuse University campus where she connected with students, fielding questions about healthcare and campaign finance reform. Katko did not participate in this event.

“We endorsed Dana because of what her campaign stands for,” Williams said, noting Balter’s professed commitment to education and Medicare-for-all as some of the primary motivations behind endorsing her candidacy.