Mitch McConnell's super PAC is booking $ 141 million in autumn ads to help make the Senate red, a staggering amount that sets the stage for a brutal battle for room control.
The GOP-controlled Senate Leadership Fund is holding eight commercial flights that began in September to protect Republican seats in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and to occupy seats occupied by the Democratic Alliance in Arizona, Georgia and Nevada, the group told POLITICO. The SLF has also placed millions in Alaska to protect Lisa Murkowski who has participated in a major challenge inspired by Donald Trump.
Those GOP plans follow the Senate Majority PAC's move with Chuck Schumer to set aside $ 106 million in Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Georgia and Pennsylvania, many of which begin in August.
Taken together, the two top foreign parties in the Senate race have spent nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in the fall, spending more money to meet those initial commitments. With Republicans currently elected to take over the House, the 50-50 Senate is forming a tent election contest this fall. It also comes with major pillars: The power to control the Senate and to secure the nominations of President Joe Biden.
"This is a powerful year that we need to invest as broadly and deeply as possible," Steven Law, president of the Senate Leadership Fund, said in an interview. "In the Senate, majority control is everything. It decides what goes down and what doesn't. It will affect future Supreme Court appointments. I mean, there is a lot at stake."
Significantly, no super PAC is currently investing in New Hampshire, with Democratic Alliance Senator Maggie Hassan running for re-election. The Republican government Chris Sununu has successfully challenged Hassan, and both sides will watch the first GOP meeting in September to see who will emerge.
Some Republicans feel less confident about how they will compete in Granite State, but Law said he feels "very confident that we will end up playing in New Hampshire." Meanwhile, Republicans and Democrats alike are focused elsewhere.
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) Speaks during the committee hearing.
The McConnell-connected Senate Leadership Fund will reduce $ 37 million in Georgia this fall, $ 27 million in North Carolina, $ 24 million in Pennsylvania, $ 15 million each in Nevada and Wisconsin, $ 14 million in Arizona and $ 7.4 million in Alaska. The Schumer-connected Senate Majority PAC held $ 26 million in Pennsylvania, $ 22 million in Arizona, $ 21 million in Nevada, $ 12 million in Wisconsin and nearly $ 25 million in Georgia.
Both estimates reach the two largest advance investments in the two groups since their creation.
"Both parties see the Senate's 2022 core map as a competitive race in a few states' built to 'approach' presidential battlefields. SMP is clear: Hold the majority of the Democratic Alliance in the US Senate. "
The Republicans feel incredibly happy to win at least one seat and win a Senate seat in November, given the low rates of Biden endorsement and the first vote to signal a crucial chance of ousting those ruling the Democratic Alliance.
But beating those in power is always difficult, and senators in the Democratic Alliance often raise eyebrows like Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock's $ 13.6 million in the first half of this year. As Democratic Alliance candidates often criticize the GOP, the Act said it expected most of the Republican candidates to succeed in this fall, requiring his PAC to intervene brutally to "try to establish that platform."
Law, a former McConnell employee, also warned his party against feeling too confident.
"The only thing that worries me when you're in such a good place, and so much talk about the red wave, is that it's satisfying," Law said.
None of the Senate seats held by the Democratic Alliance are the "constituency" of the GOP, adds the Act. "And, you know, in some of these races ... a Democratic Alliance candidate is smart and funded, and has ways to stick to his seat."
For now, the Senate map looks solid. Democrats are protecting four high-ranking officials: Hassan, Warnock, Sen Nevada Catherine Cortez Masto and Sen. Mark Kelly in Arizona. Five GOP executives are retired, but only those states, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, seem to be promising Democrats so far. And Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson is the only active GOP candidate at the moment.
If things go the way of the Republicans, Seni. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) Could be defeated in November, and the law did not prohibit spending money in Washington state, when Tiffany Smiley challenged Sen. Patty Murray (D-) Wash.). On the other hand, the Democratic Alliance's recovery in the election could make that party more powerful about North Carolina or make it a race for Sen. re-election. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) Be tough.
Officials from both parties said their initial plans could change and continue to emerge. Important political parties often change good strategies as some races grow competitively and others fall on the battlefield map. By keeping airtime in the fall in the spring, teams can lock in at lower prices than they would later pay out later in the year, especially in media markets such as Nevada with the emperor and Congress.
The GOP's Senate Leadership Fund is set in only six states to start the 2020 war to control the Senate while the Democrats' Senate Majority PAC holds five; both groups double their track as the races progress. As things stand now, the battlefield list is smaller in 2022 than in 2020.
Finally, the Democrats took control of the Senate in January 2021 in two tournaments in Georgia, showing how important each Senate race is. In the 2020 cycle, the GOP super PAC spent $ 476 million and