by Sebastian Hughes
A super PAC attached to Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is reserving $141 million worth of advertisements to bolster conservative candidates in the midterms, Politico reported Monday.
“This is such a strong year that we need to invest as broadly and deeply as we can,” Steven Law, president of the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), told Politico. “In the Senate, majority control is everything. It determines what happens on the floor and what doesn’t happen. It will have an impact on future Supreme Court nominations. I mean, there’s so much at stake.”
The PAC will donate the most to Georgia’s Senate race, attributing $37 million to the effort to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, Politico reported. Alongside fellow Sen. Jon Ossoff, Warnock was narrowly elected to the Senate in 2021 in a runoff.
SLF is also setting aside $7.4 million to help protect Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski in Alaska, who faces a primary challenge from Trump-endorsed Kelly Tshibaka, Politico reported. McConnell has made clear that Republicans in the Senate support Murkowski, who voted to convict the former President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial after the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
The advertising campaign, which begins in September, includes $27 million in North Carolina, $24 million in Pennsylvania, $15 million each in Nevada and Wisconsin and $14 million in Arizona, Politico reported. All of these races are rated as toss-ups by Cook Political Report (CPR), except for North Carolina, which is rated Lean R.
The Chuck Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC will distribute $106 million to Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Georgia and Pennsylvania, beginning in August, Politico reported.
“Both parties recognize the core 2022 Senate map as competitive races in several ‘built to be close’ presidential battleground states. The GOP carries the burden of bad candidates and a badly damaged brand,” JB Poersch, the president of Senate Majority PAC, told Politico.
Thus far, the PAC is not putting any money towards unseating New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, who is seen as vulnerable. The race is rated Lean D by CPR, but Law said he is “very confident that we will end up playing in New Hampshire.”
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Sebastian Hughes is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo U.S. Capitol by USCP.gov, “Sen Mitch McConnell” by Sen Mitch McConnell, and “Sen Chuck Schumer” is by Sen Chuck Schumer.
