Jun 12, 2015 3 min read

Camera Bartolotta owes a Republican colleague in the state Senate $100,000, according to campaign finance filings in Harrisburg.

State Sen. Scott Wagner of York County loaned Bartolotta the money last fall, and then-candidate Bartolotta in turn loaned the same amount to her campaign committee, Friends of Camera Bartolotta.

Bartolotta, a Republican from Carroll Township, ousted one-term Democratic state Sen. Tim Solobay from the 46th District seat that represents all of Greene County, most of Washington County and a sliver of Beaver County. Solobay, previously a state House member from Canonsburg, where he was fire chief and assistant fire chief, was named state fire commissioner a few weeks later by then-governor-elect Tom Wolf.

The $100,000 first shows up on the campaign finance report of Bartolotta’s committee, filed last year with the Pennsylvania Department of State. Wagner loaned the money to Bartolotta personally, not to her committee.

In addition to the loan, Wagner donated a total of $55,000 to the Friends of Camera Bartolotta committee. He gave the committee $45,000 Oct. 24 and an additional $10,000 three days after the election.

According to state law, there is no limit on the amount of campaign contributions that can be made by an individual, but as to the loan, “We cannot comment on that,” said Wanda Murren, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of State, the filing office for campaign finance reports in legislative contests.

The $100,000 debt carries a 5 percent interest rate, according to the most recent statement of financial interest Bartolotta filed.

“Loans are allowable legal options under Pennsylvania campaign finance law,” Bartolotta said Friday in a statement issued by email through Katrina Anderson, her chief of staff.

“The core question associated with loaning campaign money is that the loan be properly reported. In this case the answer is yes. Loans have been utilized in many recent campaigns, including that of Governor Wolf.

“(State) Sen. Wagner and I felt the most comfortable with a personal loan. Everything about this loan was handled above board. I received a permissible loan, noted it on my ethics statement, and will pay it off.”

Last fall, in an interview with the Observer-Reporter, Bartolotta said she was “incredibly grateful” for the infusion of cash on her behalf from the Reform PA Political Action Committee backed by Wagner, president of Penn Waste Inc. and KBS Trucking, who describes himself on his website as a small business owner who “has been supporting conservative causes and campaigns for the past 30 years.” He was a successful Republican write-in candidate in March 2014, filling a vacancy in the state Senate.

The Center for Public Integrity estimated Reform PA PAC spent $237,700 on placing advertisements targeting Solobay.

Solobay also said last fall there had been no personal animosity between him and Wagner.

“I was as surprised as anybody else,” Solobay said then of Wagner’s role in trying to have him voted out of office. “This guy’s a millionaire. It’s very Tea Partyish, if you would.”

Solobay, who did not return a call for comment Friday afternoon, began the 2014 general election cycle with a formidable war chest of $548,567, according to Pennsylvania Department of State records online. As the year progressed, the Committee to Elect Tim Solobay’s television advertising, purchased through Buying Time LLC of Washington, D.C., totaled $506,981. The committee reported no campaign debt, but a cash balance of $84,345 through the end of last year.

A year-end report shows that the Bartolotta campaign spent $313,863 last year. A total of $236,000 went to Universal Media LLC of Mechanicsburg for a television ad campaign and media buys. Another $3,900 was spent on media production.