Would they have had to if it was their own personal funds?

Like, Domb has plenty of his own cash. If he dipped into his own personal bank account that he pays for groceries and shit out of to hire a consultant to evaluate his chances of success in a mayoral race prior to announcing, he could afford to do that.

Would he have to report that? Or would he have to start the Allan Domb for Philadelphia fund first with his own cash, at which point it’s reportable?

I always assumed that until the campaign is launched, as long as it’s not coming from a designated fund (and you only need to create the fund if you’re taking other people’s money) it’s not required to be reported. But I could be wrong about the mechanics of that.

Either way, yeah, it does make me wonder about the surprise, unscheduled AFSCME vote for Brown.