This piece, from the Philadelphia Inquirer, examines the massive influx of campaign, PAC, and special interests donations that put Pennsylvania at the very top in terms of Senate race combined campaign donations. The main players in Pennsylvania's senate race are Katie McGinty (D) and Pat Toomey (R), and both are receiving unprecedented financial support from respective interests.
These donations create a question of representative legitimacy, where answering to the donating special interests could potentially take priority over representation of the common constituents that both Senatorial candidates are tasked with speaking for. An accompanying piece, penned by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, brings into question the issue of representative legitimacy. Robert Maguire, a political nonprofit investigator for the Center for Responsive Politics, brings up the point "When politicians get in office, they know who got them there. It's not that major donors buy policies or politicians, but when they call, they get their call answered by senators, That's not something regular constituents get."
Additionally, the irony of the donation situation falls on the shoulders of McGinty, who has received a significantly higher total in campaign donations in comparison to Pat Toomey. McGinty, the Democratic senator-hopeful, is a staunch detractor of the Citizens United decision, which allows for unlimited political expenditures from nonprofits, whilst Toomey supports the decision under the guise of Free Speech in the First Amendment. Toomey's total support has reached $18.6 million while McGinty has seen $38.9 million in outside support.
Post by Dan Hamann
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/growls/McGintyToomeys-money-race.html
http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/11214254-74/senate-toomey-outside
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