Skill games PAC behind mailers targeting Merkl-Gump in 16th Senate race
A new political action committee that targeted Bradley Merkl-Gump in the Democratic primary election in the state’s 16th Senate race was funded by the Operators for Skill PAC.
Protecting Our Democracy PAC raised $52,100 between May 5 and June 8, according to a campaign finance report filed with the Pennsylvania Department of State.
It received $52,000 from Operators for Skill, with one donation coming on May 4 and the other on May 28. It also received $100 from Douglas T. Rickards, who is listed as the treasurer for both PACs. Rickards could not be reached for comment.
Operators for Skill – a PAC affiliated with Pace-O-Matic, the leading provider of skill games in Pennsylvania – represents the interests of the skill-gaming industry. Found in social clubs, bars and convenience stores, skill games are more similar to video games than slot machines but players can win cash prizes.
The bulk of the money from Operators for Skill was used by Protecting Our Democracy to pay Ream Printing Company of York for printing and postage, campaign records show.
Merkl-Gump, a teacher in the Perkiomen School District and member of the Pennridge School Board, lost to Lehigh County controller Mark Pinsley on May 19.
In the Republican primary, incumbent Jarrett Coleman faced no challenger in his bid for a second, four-year term. The 16th Senate District includes western Lehigh County and Upper Bucks County.
Starting in late April, Protecting Our Democracy sent four fliers urging voters not to cast ballots for Merkl-Gump.
One of the fliers targeted Merkl-Gump and state Sen. Steve Santarsiero, saying the Bucks senator who represents the 10th District is someone who “puts Israel before Pennsylvania taxpayers” and that he would be Merkl-Gump’s “party boss.” Santarsiero called the flier “antisemetic.”
Skill games, estimated to number around 70,000 in the state, had operated without oversight until June when the state Supreme Court ruled declared them as slot machines and gave lawmakers 120 days to enact regulations and taxes on them.
Anticipating a ruling, lawmakers on both sides of the table as well as the gaming industry have been jockeying over whether and how to tax them, with Gov. Josh Shapiro eyeing them as a source of a potential $2 billion in annual state revenue.
Proposals include Shapiro’s plan to levy a 52% tax on gross terminal revenue, Senate Republican plans that range from a 16%, 35% and 36% tax on gross revenue as well as a flat monthly $500 fee per machine.
Coleman opposes taxing skill games, saying it will hurt social clubs for veterans and small businesses that have skill game terminals.
Operators for Skill gave Coleman’s campaign committee $120,000 last year and $305,000 this year through June 8, according to campaign finance reports filed with the Pennsylvania Department of State.
Last year, Pace-O-Matic executives contributed a total of $275,000 to Patriots for Coleman: $250,000 from Michael Pace, the company’s founder and chairman; $5,000 from Frank Fina, chief operating officer; $10,000 each from Paul Goldean, president, and Michael Barley, vice president. Company executives have not contributed to Coleman’s campaign in 2026, according to campaign finance reports as of June 8, the end of the most recent reporting period.
This year, Operators for Skill PAC, which received its funding primarily from executives with skill-game companies, contributed more than $5 million to Republican and Democratic candidates, party committees and other PACs statewide, according to its 2026 campaign finance reports. It gave $50,000 to Shapiro’s reelection campaign, even though the governor proposed taxing skill games in his 2026 budget proposal.
Coleman wasn’t the only Lehigh Valley lawmaker whose campaign received money from Operators for Skill PAC, although the amounts were significantly less than what he received.
Also receiving money were Sen. Nick Miller, D-14, $12,500; Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-18, $1,000; Rep. Milou Mackenzie, R-131, $1,000; Rep. Mike Schlossberg who is also the House Majority Whip, D-132, $9,600; Rep. Peter Schweyer, R-134, $1,000; Rep. Joe Emrick, R-137, $500; Rep. Ann Flood, R-138, $1,000; Rep. Zach Mako, R-183, $500; and Rep. Gary Day, R-187, $2,500.
Protecting Our Democracy registered with the state as a PAC April 15. It is chaired by Joseph Calla, owner of Capital Vending Co. in Harrisburg, which supplies coin-operated amusement devices used in skill games.
Calla is listed as having donated $156,000 to Operators for Skill PAC, according to Transparency USA, an organization that tracks political contributions. He also loaned $50,000 to Operators for Skill in November, according to the PAC’s campaign finance report.
In a Jan. 14 opinion piece in PennLive, Calla said he and others in the industry, including Pace-O-Matic, have sought clear, fair regulation and taxation with oversight going to the state Department of Revenue not the state Gaming Control Board.
Protecting Our Democracy’s campaign expense report lists its receipts and expenditures from May 5 to June 8, the campaign expense report filing period known as cycle 3.
The PAC sent the first of four fliers in April, according to a campaign mailer viewed by Armchair Lehigh Valley.
Armchair Lehigh Valley could not immediately determine whether the Protecting Our Democracy should have filed a report in cycle 2, which ran from Jan. 1 to May 4.
When the first flier was sent, Merkl-Gump told Armchair Lehigh Valley that he didn’t know why people connected to the skill games industry were targeting him. “I have never taken a position on skill games because I am a school board director,’’ he said.
Protecting Our Democracy wasn’t the only PAC to receive money from Operators for Skill.
Another Operators for Skill recipient, Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania, received $950,000 between Jan. 1 and June 8, according to campaign finance reports.
The PAC seeks written commitment from lawmakers on issues that include support for strengthening election integrity, protecting the right to self-defense and expanding education freedom and opposition to net tax or fee increases and government lockdowns of businesses, churches and nonprofit organizations.
Christopher Borick, director of Muhlenberg College’s Institute of Public Opinion said PACs like Operators for Skill fund other PACs for multiple reasons.
“First, by doing so it allows them to navigate campaign finance laws in a manner that maximizes a PAC’s ability to influence races. The practice also allows PACs to keep some distance from situations and campaigns they might not want to be directly connected to. They ultimately want to skirt transparency while abiding by the very loose and limited laws that govern their actions,” he said in an email.