Democratic primary for Pittsburgh’s Congress seat flooded by money from afar, including conservative Yass

Challenger Bhavini Patel, left, and U.S. Rep. Summer Lee are Democrats running to represent Pennsylvania’s 12th congressional district. (Courtesy Patel campaign and U.S. House of Representatives) The 12th District Democratic primary between incumbent Summer Lee and Bhavini Patel has attracted more than $1 million in outsider spending. by Charlie Wolfson, PublicSource The biggest political spender in the Democratic primary for Pittsburgh’s congressional seat is a Libertarian from the Philadelphia suburbs. Meanwhile the vast bulk of the money raised by the incumbent comes from other states. Democracy & Doubt Pittsburgh navigates trust and choice in the 2024 election season Jeffrey Yass, a billionaire who has long championed conservative causes and candidates in Pennsylvania, donated $800,000 this February to a political action committee that is airing television ads supporting Bhavini Patel in her bid to take the Democratic nomination from Rep. Summer Lee in the 12th Congressional District. Lee’s national profile, though, has allowed her campaign to dramatically out-fundraise Patel’s, drawing nearly three-fourths of its dollars from outside of Pennsylvania. District 12 includes Pittsburgh and some eastern suburbs, stretching into part of Westmoreland County. This is the second consecutive cycle a major outside funder attempted to sway the district’s primary voters, after&...