Montco Republican donors have opened their pockets - to Democrats

A handful of Montgomery County's most generous and reliable Republican Party benefactors have put their pocketbooks behind a surprising team this year.

Amid what is expected to be one of the hardest-fought campaigns for the county's three commissioner seats in decades, several GOP stalwarts have offered sizable donations to, of all people, Democrats.

Of the $300,000 that candidates State Rep. Josh Shapiro and Whitemarsh Supervisor Leslie Richards have raised since October, more than $37,000 - about 12 percent - has come from high-profile Republican sources.

Their early success in drawing money from across that partisan divide could signify a shift in the political winds for a county long considered the Republicans' piggy bank, or - as some local political watchers see it - another example of growing tension in the county GOP.

"We're really proud of the fact that not only Democrats think we're going to win but also a lot of Republicans and independents do, too," Shapiro said.

Those donors include:

Nan Sweeney, who, with her husband, Edward, donated $10,000 to the Shapiro-Richards campaign in March. The Blue Bell couple have supported campaigns by Gov. Corbett, to whom they gave $40,000 in the governor's race, and former presidential nominee John McCain, who received more than $10,000 of their money. Since 2008, they have also contributed more than $18,000 directly to Montgomery County's Republican committee.

William R. Sasso, who gave $5,000 to the Democrats earlier this month through his Philadelphia law firm, Stradley, Ronan, Stevens & Young. Sasso, the firm's chairman, also serves as treasurer of one of the state's largest right-leaning political action committees, the Pennsylvania Future Fund. He has donated generously from his own wallet to GOP candidates for state office. (Shapiro works for Sasso's firm.)

Gregg Melinson, who served as deputy general counsel to Republican Gov. Tom Ridge and as a member of the Future Fund's board. He and his law firm, Drinker, Biddle & Reath, where Melinson is a partner, have given more than $60,000 to Republican candidates over the last three years, including $20,000 to the Future Fund PAC. In April, they donated $500 to the Shapiro-Richards campaign.

None has contributed yet to the GOP campaign led by Commissioner Bruce L. Castor Jr. and Lower Merion Commissioner Jenny Brown.

What's behind the shift in fiscal allegiance?

Not much, Sasso said. He credited his contribution to his professional connection with Shapiro.