King maker? Rep. Bill Shuster controls $1 million in campaign contributions

(Undated) — U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster controls a $1 million war chest, and he is not running for re-election.

Eight Republicans hailing from four counties hope to fill his seat in Congress.

Shuster could be the 800-pound gorilla in the melee. He has the political connections and capital to push a candidate of his choosing to the front of the pack.

The congressman hasn’t said anything publicly about the primary battle in Pennsylvania’s 13th Congressional District.

“Congressman Shuster has no plans to endorse any candidate at this time,” said his spokesman Joey Brown.

What if he changes his mind?

“It feels like he is in a powerful position right now to offer support to people who did not harm him,”  said Alison Dagnes, political science professor at Shippensburg University. “Certainly, there are enough people who were thorns in his side.”

Three of the GOP candidates previously challenged Shuster.

• State Sen. John Eichelberger Jr. of Blair County opposed Shuster in 2001. The two men sought endorsement from party leaders after U.S. Rep. Bud Shuster, Bill Shuster’s father, announced his retirement.
• Art Halvorson, a retired Coast Guard captain from Bedford County, and Travis Schooley, a township planning officer from Franklin County, ran against Bill Shuster in recent hard-fought GOP primaries.

Halvorson suspects that cash from Shuster’s campaign coffer will go to a Super PAC  to back Dr. John Joyce’s candidacy. A Super PAC is an independent political action committee that can raise unlimited money, but cannot contribute or coordinate with parties or candidates. 

Joyce, a Blair County physician, is the father of Sean Joyce, Bill Shuster’s campaign manager during the years of Halvorson’s challenges.

“Sean Joyce was Shuster’s saber-tooth tiger in 2014,” Halvorson said. “Shuster is going after me first and Eichelberger and (Rep. Stephen) Bloom and those that have any muscle.”

Public Opinion asked John Joyce’s campaign manager, Adam Breneman, if John Joyce has Shuster’s support.

“There have been no contributions requested, submitted or received from any public officials,” he said. “Our campaign welcomes support from everyone in this district, but Dr. Joyce is running his own race and running his own campaign. Dr. Joyce is not encumbered by any political caucus or outside interest.”

Breneman is an associate with political consultant Red Maverick Media of Harrisburg. The firm, hired by Shuster’s campaign in 2016, “had to label Halvorson a political opportunist” in the general election, according to the company’s Web site.

The 13th District GOP race features three first-time candidates — Donald Trump supporter Ben Hornberger of Cumberland County, retired Col. Doug Mastriano of Franklin County and businessman Bernard Washabaugh II of Franklin County.

Bill Shuster for Congress has more than $1 million cash on hand, according to the campaign committee’s 2017 year-end report to the Federal Election Commission.

Federal lawmakers are not required to close their campaign committees after leaving office, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. They can donate the money to charity, to a PAC, to the national party and up to $2,000 each to other candidates’ committees. They can save it for a political run in the future, but cannot spend it for personal use.

“Generally, they just kind hold that back, to be a bit of a power broker,” said Dwight Weidman, who operates the online Franklin County, Pennsylvania, Republican Journal.

“It looks like a wide-open primary, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Shuster would stay out of it,” said G. Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College. “Part of what you want to do is to leave with a clean legacy.”

Bill Shuster also could offer his organization, he said.

“It’s not just money. It’s lists,” Madonna said. “There’s always a possibility.”

Rep. Bud Shuster in 2001-02 spent down his $250,000 campaign fund, according to FEC records. Most went to legal fees, but he donated $5,000 to the Republican State Committee and $1,000 each to the committees of Shelly Moore Capito, Jim Gerlach, Robert Hayes and Mark Kennedy. The elder Shuster resigned his seat in February 2001.

“Bill hasn’t to our knowledge racked up a lot of legal bills like his father,” said Hugh Jones, retired chairman of the Shippensburg University political science department. “It’s a complete puzzlement to me (why Bill Shuster chose to retire). Did he realize what the Trump situation was going to be or was there another scandal? He decided to leave and pre-empted the major explosions down in Washington, which have gotten worse by the day.”

Bill Shuster is in office until Jan. 3.

Dagnes is comfortable with Bill Shuster spending the money as he sees fit.

“When people donated to his campaign or his leadership PAC, they supported him and the other people he supports,” she said. “He ran virtually unopposed for so long. He’s not violating any laws. He’s not in any ethical quandary. He’s playing by the rules.”

Leadership PACs, unlike campaign committees, do not have spending rules, according to the FEC. Once a lawmaker leaves office, he or she can spend leadership PAC funds on themselves. Shuster as of Feb. 28 had $145,304 in his leadership PAC, Bill PAC, according to OpenSecrets.org.

If Shuster holds back his influence during the primary, few see the necessity for him to exercise it in the general election. Republicans have a more solid hold on the 13th District than they had on the 9th District, currently represented by Shuster. They cover roughly the same geographic area in Pennsylvania.

“The Republican Party is in critical care, or worse,” Jones said. “Will that filter down to our local election? It’s not likely that a Democrat is going to defeat whoever the Republican nominee is.”

But if President Trump’s base breaks apart and the Republican House majority is in jeopardy, the 13th District might appear on the national stage, he said.

Brent M. Ottaway, a Hollidaysburg resident and associate professor of communications at St. Francis University, Loretto, is the lone Democrat running.

The final day to challenge nominating petitions is Tuesday. No challenges had been filed as of Monday.

The Pennsylvania Primary is May 15. Adults who are U.S. citizens and who have lived in Pennsylvania for 30 days prior to the election may register to vote. The deadline in April 16.

This story comes to us through a partnership between WITF and The Chambersburg Public Opinion.