A month after announcing his campaign to run in Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District, Republican John Chrin had $350,000 in his campaign coffers, including $300,000 from his personal funds, according to a new campaign finance report released to The Morning Call.

That total includes $250,000 that Chrin is loaning his campaign and $50,000 that he contributed directly, according to the copy of his first campaign finance report.

The latest round of federal campaign finance reports, which detail fundraising and campaign spending during the three-month period ending June 30, are due Saturday to the Federal Election Commission.

Chrin announced on May 30 that he’s seeking to take on Democratic U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, who is in his third term represents the district that includes parts of Northampton, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Schuylkill, Carbon and Monroe counties.

Cartwright topped his Republican challenger last year by eight percentage points. But national Republicans have targeted the district, which favored Republican Donald Trump by 10 points in the presidential race.

Cartwright had $854,000 in cash on hand as of March 31, according to his last campaign finance report.

The congressional bid is Chrin's first bid for public office. The 54-year-old Chrin, who was raised in Fountain Hill, spent 20 years in investment banking. He later taught business classes at Lehigh University, where he had earned his undergraduate degrees.

The Morning Call
Laura Olson
July 13th, 2017

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