Republicans pull ad money from House battlegrounds as Democrats map a first-100-days agenda
The leading House Republican super PAC canceled advertising in four battleground races and shifted money to safer districts, AP reporting found, while House Democrats outlined an affordability and oversight agenda if they retake the chamber in three weeks.
The money shift: The Congressional Leadership Fund, the main House Republican super PAC, canceled spending in four races from the Midwest to the East Coast and increased investment in 16 other races from Texas to Pennsylvania, the AP reported Tuesday, citing three Republican campaign officials familiar with the plans. Another Trump-aligned super PAC, Safety and Affordability, pulled nearly $1 million in ads backing Republican Marty O’Donnell in Nevada’s 3rd District against Democratic Rep. Susie Lee, the AP said.
Where CLF pulled back: Officials told the AP the group is no longer advertising in Iowa’s 1st District (Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks vs. Democrat Christina Bohannan), New Jersey’s 7th (Rep. Tom Kean vs. Democrat Rebecca Bennett), a Cincinnati-area race, and an east-central Michigan race. Those four races had accounted for $13.3 million in CLF spending — more than 12% of its total through Oct. 13, the AP reported. The group is instead reinforcing districts where Trump beat Kamala Harris by narrow margins in 2024.
Why Republicans are defensive: “The economic environment has not been good,” Club for Growth president David McIntosh told the AP. “Voters are dissatisfied with their Republican majority.” Strategist Stu Sandler said: “You can tell now where people are competing based on where they’re putting the money.” Senate Republicans are also pouring resources into once-safe seats, including a $15 million Senate Leadership Fund investment in Nebraska to protect Sen. Pete Ricketts, the AP reported.
Democrats press outward: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched a $17 million fundraising drive, with a deadline of Oct. 22, to advertise in districts once seen as out of reach, including Ohio’s 10th (Rep. Mike Turner), the Miami area, suburban St. Louis and Little Rock, the AP said. “It’s not that we need the money to win in the districts where we have been running to get to 218 seats,” DCCC communications director Courtney Rice said. “We’re talking about the next level.”
If Democrats win the House: House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said the party would move “right out of the gate” in the first 100 hours of a new Congress to reinstate Affordable Care Act tax credits, reverse Republican Medicaid cuts, hold votes against the Iran war and undo Trump’s tariff regime, the AP reported in a separate story Wednesday. Jeffries has also tasked Oversight and Judiciary ranking members to prepare investigations of Trump, his family and the administration; he has said impeachment is neither on nor off the table.
Campaign trail: Trump held midterm rallies Wednesday in Bullhead City, Arizona, and Kalispell, Montana, the Guardian reported. Senate Majority PAC reserved more than $7 million for Democratic Senate efforts in Michigan and Maine, the Guardian said. Early voting has begun in some states, with Georgia setting a first-day early-vote record, according to the Guardian’s live coverage.