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For weeks, GOP political watchers in Montgomery County have expressed quiet but increasing concern that Marina Kats did not have the political acumen to take on a powerful incumbent in Congress, and that the wealthy lawyer was being left to fend for herself by a Republican Party largely resigned to letting the candidate spend her own money in what seemed to be a losing effort.

For what it's worth, Kats, who is running against U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Abington) in the 13th Congressional District, shares their concerns.

In a brief but candid interview Tuesday night, Kats acknowledged feeling somewhat overwhelmed, and said she was disappointed in the lack of guidance she has received from local GOP officials.

"When I got into this, I got into it because of purely idealistic reasons," Kats told PolitickerPA.com after performing a brief routing at Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky's Candidates Comedy Night. "I wanted to help the country and to help the party."

But Kats, a millionaire attorney with no political experience, wondered why she was left to campaign on her own.

"I know how to operate in the business world," she said. "It's a little different in the political world."

"I'm surprised it became Marina Kats' race without more support from the party," Kats added.

Still, she maintained the race was "very winnable."

"If the Republican Party wants to win this race, I invite everyone to help out," she said.

Montgomery County GOP chairman Bob Kerns said he hadn't spoken with Kats about her concerns, but insisted that the party was behind her.

"The Republican Party supports all of its candidates," Kerns said.

Congressional candidate Marina Kats: Campaign PhotoIt was clear even before the latest campaign finance reports were released that Marina Kats was struggling to raise money, especially when compared to the huge war chest of her opponent, U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Abington).

Now, after a campaign staff shakeup, Kats, a wealthy attorney and the Republican challenger in the 13th Congressional District, is starting to dip into her considerable fortune to turn things around.

Kats loaned her campaign $285,000 on July 21, campaign spokesman Luke Myslinski told PolitickerPA.com Monday. The loan came only days after her second quarter campaign finance disclosure showed she had collected just over $87,000 during the period. Schwartz, meanwhile, raised almost half-a-million dollars during the same period. While Kats had about $50,000 on hand at the end of the last reporting period, Schwartz had $2.2 million.

It remains unclear how much of the loan Kats will eventually get back, or if she will eventually give her campaign money outright.

"Every option's still on the table," Myslinski said. "We're still early in the race."

While not going into the specifics of Kats' fundraising plans, he said the campaign was still aiming to raise significantly more than it has to date.

"We'd be happy with a million dollars," he said.

A Northeast Philadelphia businessman says he has filed nominating papers to join tha ballot for the 13th Congressional District, throwing his hat into a race against a strong Democratic incumbent and a Republican challenger who has so far struggled to gain traction.

John McDermott says he filed nominating papers last week containing the signatures of about 4,400 district voters, about 1,400 more than required to get on the ballot.

McDermott, a self-employed salesman of electric and natural gas power to commercial and inustrial companies, is joining the race as a Constitution Party candidate.

"Now the voters of this district can benefit from a real conservation on issues,” McDermott said in a release.

U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Abington) raised almost half-a-million dollars in the second quarter, far outpacing her Republican opponent, according to campaign finance reports published Tuesday.

Schwartz collected more than $491,000 during the period, bringing her total haul for the campaign cycle above $2.3 million. Opponent Marina Kats, meanwhile, raised only $87,270 in the second quarter, and the wealthy lawyer is overhauling her campaign operations.

Schwartz, whose name has been floated as a possible U.S. Senate contender in the coming years, has had little need to spend her campaign money, and had $2.26 million in cash on hand at the end of the quarter, compared with just over $50,000 for Kats.

The two are running in the 13th Congressional District.

Republicans hoping that millionaire lawyer Marina Kats could give U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Abington) a run for her money in the 13th Congressional District got some sobering, if not unexpected news, when Kats' campaign reported it had raised only $87,270 in the second quarter.

Schwartz collected almost half-a-million dollars in the second fundraising quarter. Republicans had already been skeptical, if still hopeful, about Kats, but with little visible signs of campaigning from her, the money issues could reflect larger organizational ones.

Acknowledging those problems, the campaign undertook a reorganization before the latest campaign finance numbers were published. A new campaign manager, a new chief fundraiser and a Washington-based consulting team have already been hired in the last week.

"We're a whole new team," campaign manager Luke Myslinski told PolitickerPa.com. "We plan to compete very well.

"We don't need as much money as Allyson Schwartz," he added.

Whether or not Kats will commit to using any of her own multi-million-dollar fortune for the campaign remains an open question.

"Every option's on the table at this point," Myslinski said.

Congressional candidate Marina Kats: Campaign photoThe campaign of Marina Kats apparently didn't realize how vigilant the all-volunteer Wikipedia police force can be.

When the campaign edited her entry in a less-than-neutral way, the page was soon deleted from the online, user-edited encyclopedia, The Morning Call reports.

As of Friday morning, it was still not online.

Kats, a wealth Abington lawyer who is challening U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Abington) in the 13th Congressional District, told The Morning Call that she didn't even know she had a Wikipedia entry.

''I don't know who would be the idiot who would do that,'' she said of her campaign staff breaking the online encyclopedia's rules governing neutrality in editing.

When the clock strikes midnight, donations for the current federal campaign finance quarter end and candidates will have to report whatever cash they have managed to raise. Candidates on all levels made last-ditch pitches for some extra dough in the final hours.

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) kicked off the requests at 9:16 this morning, telling supporters in an email that "right now is the time to step up and own a piece of this campaign."

After the presidential candidate made his appeal, the congressional candidates jumped in.