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U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli has significantly more money in his campaign account than his Democratic challenger.
After contested primaries for the Democratic and Republican nominations, Rulli, R-Salem, had $284,711 in his campaign fund as of June 30.
In comparison, Elizabeth Kirtley of New Philadelphia, who won the Democratic primary in the 6th District to challenge Rulli, reported $1,068 in her fund as of June 30.
Recent second quarter campaign finance reports, for the period between April 16 and June 30, show Rulli, who is seeking his second full two-year term after winning a special election in June 2024 for an open seat, raised $237,987 and spent $292,933 in the second quarter.
6TH DISTRICT
Of the money raised by Rulli in the second quarter, $161,450 came from political action committees with $67,137.15 from individual donors. He also received a $6,800 refund from a vendor and received $2,600 in transfers from other committees.
Rulli's campaign received $5,000 maximum contributions from nine PACs in the second quarter. That includes PACs run by U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, Ohio; U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minnesota and the House's majority whip; the National Electrical Contractors Association; Laborers International Union, Athletico (a physical therapy company); operating engineers union; American Israel Public Affairs Committee; Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding; and Democracy Engine, listed as an "intermediary" on Rulli's campaign report.
Rulli's campaign also reported a $15,000 contribution from Anthony S. Manna, chairman of the Akron law firm of Brennan, Manna & Diamond LLC. Under Federal Election Commission law, an individual can contribute only $7,000 per election cycle - $3,500 each for the primary and general elections combined - to a congressional candidate.
Rulli's largest expense in the second quarter was $100,000 transferred to the National Republican Congressional Committee, which works to elect Republicans to U.S. House seats. Rulli's campaign also paid $72,498 to Media Ad Ventures of Springfield, Virginia, for media buys, and $25,700.07 to Spencer Federal LLC of East Liverpool for campaign consulting, printing and mailing of campaign literature.
Overall for this election cycle as of June 30, Rulli raised $1,147,839 and spent $971,188.
Rulli won the May 5 Republican primary with 78.2% of the vote, beating Jullie Kelley of Monroe, who didn't raise enough money to file a campaign finance report.
There were six Democrats whose names appeared on the May 5 ballot with Kirtley emerging as the winner, capturing 31.1% of the vote.
Of the six, Kirtley raised the fifth most money.
Kirtley raised $1,106.70 in the second quarter - and $1,131.70 in total as of June 30 - while spending $56.77 in the quarter - and $62.76 in total for the primary election - in pulling off a surprising victory.
Adrian Vitus of Poland, who came in second in the Democratic primary with 22.3% of the vote, raised and spent the most. He raised $32,240 and spent $31,272.
Malcolm Ritchie of Dover, who finished fifth with 9% of the vote, raised $29,202 and spent $19,727. Of the money he raised, Ritchie gave $11,414 to his campaign.
Brent Hanni of Youngstown, who finished fourth with 9.9% of the vote, ended his campaign with a deficit. He raised $9,424 and spent $9,868.
Sean Connolly of Canfield, who placed second with 20.6% of the vote, didn't file a second quarter report. In a report he filed for financial activity during the first three months of the year, Connolly had raised $4,546 and spent $2,427.
Charles DiPalma of Steubenville, who finished last with 7.2%, didn't file campaign finance reports with the FEC.
The 6th District includes most of Mahoning and Stark counties as well as all of Columbiana, Jefferson, Belmont, Harrison and Tuscarawas counties and portions of Wayne and Holmes counties.
The district favors Republicans 63.9% to 36.1% for Democrats based on partisan statewide voting results during the past decade.