NASCAR figure, gas and oil interests donate to Pennsylvania campaigns at last minute

Natural-gas drillers and a powerhouse of the NASCAR circuit are among those pumping financial fuel into Pennsylvania's political campaigns as the clock ticks down toward Election Day.

Since Thursday, candidates running for legislative seats and statewide office have reported more than 2,100 last-minute campaign donations, according to totals submitted to the state.

As anyone with a television can attest, a significant portion of that money has been used to flood local airwaves and cable channels with a seemingly never-ending torrent of political ads.

At Philadelphia's 6ABC, more than $11 million has been spent to buy a combined 2,300 minutes of advertising for October. That's nearly 39 hours of mudslinging, name-calling, and vote-hounding rhetoric.

But campaigns and myriad political action groups keep buying and revising purchased time, a spokeswoman for the station said.

The gubernatorial candidates remain among the top spenders. Combined, they have bought $2 million worth of ad time at the station for the month.

That adds up to six hours of ads.

Republican candidate Tom Corbett continued to outpace Democrat Dan Onorato in contributions by more than 2-1, according to the latest state election records.

From Thursday to Friday, Corbett reported about $540,000 in new donations, with recent money coming from a few notable names.

Chip Ganassi of Pittsburgh, who owns racing teams that compete on the NASCAR and IndyCar circuits, gave $10,000 to help push the Republican candidate over the finish line.

Corbett - who opposes taxing the natural gas that drillers are extracting from the Marcellus Shale - also took in $100,000 from the chairman and chief executive of a State College, Pa., oil and gas company. Lance T. Shaner's six-figure check was one of the single largest donations in the last two days.

Shaner heads Rex Energy Corp. The company has budgeted $66 million to drill natural-gas wells over 60,000 acres in four counties, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

That contribution accounts for most of the $130,000-plus Corbett has taken in since Wednesday from oil and gas executives and their political committees.

For his part, Onorato reported $210,000 in new donations over the same two days, with most of it coming from the state Democratic Committee, which doled out $137,000 to his campaign.

Onorato - who favors taxing natural gas - has taken in a smaller sum from that industry, including $5,500 reported over the last two days.

The numbers leave Corbett ahead in overall fund-raising, with about $28 million to less than $25 million for Onorato. Final figures will not be compiled until after Election Day.