If you live in central Pennsylvania and watched cable TV this October, there's a pretty good chance you saw a 15-second ad targeting state Senate candidate George Scott paid for by the Republican State Leadership Committee.

Scott, a Democrat, faced incumbent Sen. John DiSanto, who ultimately prevailed in the brutal, expensive election battle. 

Direct coordination between groups like RSLC, which run so-called super PACs, and political campaigns like DiSanto's is forbidden. So to create the ad, the group turned to a middleman — the same Harrisburg-based firm running DiSanto’s campaign, Spotlight PA and The Caucus report.

THE CONTEXT: No one has accused the firm involved, Red Maverick Media, its owner Ray Zaborney, or RSLC of wrongdoing.

But good government and campaign finance experts said the arrangement is another example of how weak state and federal campaign finance rules — combined with meager oversight — create gray areas and loopholes.

Zaborney said there was a “firewall,” consistent with federal law, between the firm’s work for DiSanto and its work for the leadership committee.

Earlier this year, Spotlight PA and The Caucus reported that a dark money group Zaborney helped launch held an exclusive California fundraiser headlined by the Senate’s top Republican, Jake Corman of Centre County. Zaborney has also run Corman’s campaign for years, but said there was no coordination.

"Then the police took me, and that was it."

— Amanda Papa, of Coraopolis, was arrested during a mental health crisis in 2018 and not informed of available crisis services