The Republican primary race for Pennsylvania’s 48th Senate District saw a combined $1.6 million spent by campaign committees, with incumbent Chris Gebhard outspending challenger Clovis Crane 2-to-1 in a contentious race that ended with Gebhard ahead by a similarly wide margin.
Both candidates live in Lebanon County, which makes up the majority of the 48th Senate District, along with parts of Berks and Lancaster counties.
These totals, finalized via 30-day post-primary reports, do not include expenditures made directly by independent state and national PACs, which also poured money into the race.
Crane’s campaign committee, Clovis for PA, raised a total of $546,212.66 from Jan. 1 to June 8, when the reporting period ended, and spent $543,339.02 over that same period. The lion’s share came from Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania PAC, which contributed $484,000.
During the 2026 primary election cycle, Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania PAC received $500,000 from Operators for Skill, the Pace-O-Matic affiliated PAC that late last year filed the largest campaign finance report in Lebanon County’s history in what was widely interpreted as saber-rattling for a potential primary challenger to Gebhard. Crane announced his candidacy days after LebTown reported on the filing.
Clovis for PA spent $300,000 on TV advertising through WRS Media, which describes itself as “the media firm behind winning Republican campaigns.” The campaign spent $50,466.88 on direct mail through Tri-M Graphics and $44,423.86 on text messaging and digital advertising through political strategy firm 5141. Digital ads through Google and Facebook cost $64,048.40. Altogether these expenditures made up about 85% of total spend.
The Crane campaign received $3,732.93 in in-kind contributions, the majority being contributions from Willie Shay for events and media buys.
Gebhard’s campaign committee, Friends of Chris Gebhard, began the year with a war chest of $665,186.88. It raised another $558,233.73 from March 31 to June 8 and spent $1,119,893.51 over that period.
No one contributor made up the majority of Gebhard’s fundraising. The campaign received $100,000 from the campaign committee of state Senator Joe Pittman and another $50,000 from the campaign committee of state Senator Kim Ward. Keystone Seniors PAC contributed $75,000.
The Gebhard committee spent $700,682.94 on advertising through podcast, radio, and streaming media buying firm Strategic Media Placement Inc. $247,000 of the Gebhard committee’s spend was contributed back to the Senate Republican Campaign Committee. Those two organizations made up approximately 85% of the campaign’s overall spend.
The Gebhard campaign received $254,255.90 of in-kind contributions. The bulk were from the Republican Party of Pennsylvania for campaign literature and postage. The Senate Republican Campaign Committee also contributed about $30,000 in mailers.
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