Atkinson and Smucker

Democrat Jim Atkinson (left) has raised less than $8,000 this year, as of June 30. Meanwhile, Congressman Lloyd Smucker (right) has more than $1.5 million in the bank. 

Democratic congressional hopeful Jim Atkinson entered July having raised less than $8,000 in donations for his campaign against four-term incumbent Rep. Lloyd Smucker.

Atkinson, a 60-year-old Lancaster city resident, attributed his lackluster fundraising to the fact he remains a full-time pilot for American Airlines.

“We confront the difficulty of asking people to contribute to a Democratic candidate in a pretty solid red district,” Atkinson said, referring to the fact that Republicans make up a majority of voters in the 11th Congressional District. “Smucker is pretty safe.”

Atkinson’s most recent campaign finance report, which disclosed fundraising from April 1 to June 30, shows his largest donor was Louisiana resident Edgar Feinberg, who gave $3,000.

Atkinson also received $1,000 from the Willow Valley Democrat Plus Club. The candidate donated about $390 to his campaign and loaned it another $970.

Atkinson’s campaign spent most of the funds, $5,000, on developing a campaign website, according to the reports. He ended June with just under $1,500 in the bank.

That figure is a fraction of the roughly $56,000 that Smucker’s last Democratic opponent, Bob Hollister, had available at the same point in the 2022 cycle. Smucker defeated Hollister with about 59% of the 224,000 votes cast that year.

Meanwhile, Smucker, a member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, reported ending June with $1.5 million in the war chest of his primary fundraising committee, Smucker for Congress. He had an additional $47,000 on hand at Smucker Victory Committee, a joint fundraising committee that’s allowed to accept larger donations because it supports multiple candidates or political organizations.

Smucker Victory Committee raises money to support his congressional campaign as well as the Pennsylvania Republican Party and the national House GOP fundraising committee. Another recipient is JAM PAC, Smucker’s leadership PAC he uses to support other Republican candidates across the county. As of June 20, JAM PAC had about $47,000 on hand.

One of Smucker’s largest individual donors this quarter was Adam Kidan, the former Manheim Township resident who spent time in federal prison more than a decade ago after he pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges. According to the Victory Committee’s report, Kidan spent over $42,000 on “event catering and facility” on its behalf in April.

Smucker Victory Committee’s filing also showed a $16,000 donation in April from Evgi Shlomi, the chief executive of a Florida-based e-cigarette company called QR Joy Inc.

Earlier that month, Schlomi posted a photo to social media showing him with Smucker for Trump’s April 13 visit to Newtown, Pa. A later April post captioned, “Dinner with Donald Trump,” shows Shlomi at Trump’s Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago. In the background of one photo, Smucker is seen smiling with his wife, Cindy.

Corporate political action committees make up some of Smucker’s largest contributors. During the latest quarter, he received more than $31,000 from Raymond James Financial Services and $25,000 from the Select Medical Corporation PAC.

Smucker, a staunch Israel supporter as it wages war against Hamas in Gaza, also received more than $15,000 from a national pro-Israel committee known as AIPAC.

Smucker’s spokeswoman, Jenna Reath, said in a statement Friday that the congressman will support Republican candidates seeking office across the country to expand the party’s majority in the House of Representatives and that Smucker “has been fortunate to have a number of individuals who support this commitment.”

“He’s directly given or helped raise over $500,000 already this cycle to support this commitment,” Reath said.

‘Smucker is pretty safe’

Atkinson said he hopes his campaign will pick up steam and that Smucker will accept his challenge to a debate ahead of the election.

But Reath suggested that a debate is unlikely to happen. She said Atkinson is “inadequately prepared to run a campaign that should be taken seriously, much less debate the issues that are impacting the lives of residents of Pennsylvania’s 11th Congressional District.”

Atkinson said his job and his responsibility to his family leaves him about 20 hours a week to work on his campaign. He said those hours are often spent reading about issues in Washington or calling voters.

“It’s a barebones kind of campaign,” Atkinson said. “It is definitely a candidacy that I'm squeezing into a busy life.”

Atkinson hasn’t hosted any public fundraisers since he won the party’s nomination in April, though he’s attended most county Democratic Party events this year, like U.S. Sen. Bob Casey’s April visit and the opening of President Joe Biden’s satellite office in March.

Atkinson noted that his odds of winning November’s general election have kept the national Democratic Party from injecting cash into his campaign. “They simply see it as a lost cause.”

Atkinson entered the race in January but failed to secure the county committee’s endorsement before the primary, despite party leaders throwing their weight behind him ahead of the vote at its convention.

Since then, the county party has left him to organize his campaign largely on his own.

Chair of the county Democrats, Tom O’Brien, said voters should have “an alternative” to Smucker. “We are grateful for Jim Atkinson stepping up and we continue to support him in all our voter outreach efforts.”

Atkinson said Tuesday he will continue his push to oust Smucker.

“I don't mind running a campaign that's low on funds,” Atkinson said. “I want to run a campaign that's rich in ideas.”

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