Senate Republicans are sinking hundreds of millions of dollars into defending GOP-held seats but also eyeing unseating Democrats in battleground states. The Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) this week announced a whopping $342 million ad buy dedicated to maintaining control of the U.S. Senate. The GOP has committed $79 million to the Ohio special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by now-Vice President J.D. Vance, a Republican, and $71 million to the regularly-scheduled election for the Senate seat currently held by Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who is not running for reelection.
The SLF, closely linked to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), will also spend $42 million defending Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) and $15 million defending Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) in their respective reelection bids. Another $29 million has been set aside for Iowa, where incumbent Senator Joni Ernst (R) will not be running for reelection.
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At present, Republicans hold a nominal majority in the Senate with 53 seats, but the SLF is also investing in Senate contests that could unseat Democrats and expand the GOP’s majority. The political action committee is spending $45 million in Michigan, where incumbent Senator Gary Peters (D) is not running for reelection, and a more modest $17 million in New Hampshire, where Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D) has opted not to seek a fourth term. The SLF will also spend $45 million in a challenge to Georgia’s incumbent Senator Jon Ossoff (D).
SLF Executive Director Alex Latcham characterized the ad buy as an “initial investment” ahead of further spending. “Our job is to preserve the majority,” Latcham said of the SLF’s focus on defending Republican seats. “Senate Leadership Fund is better positioned than ever to execute an aggressive offensive strategy to protect and expand the Republican Senate Majority,” he said in a separate statement. “SLF’s historic investment will help elect strong Republican Senators across key battleground states and ensure that [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer and his party remain in the minority.”
FRC Action Director Matt Carpenter highlighted some of the key factors that will come into play in November. “Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown and former New Hampshire Senator John Sununu are running, and both benefit from significant name ID. Georgia is difficult,” he told The Washington Stand. “Despite Ossoff only winning the election in 2020 by 50,000 votes, he has the advantage of incumbency in a midterm cycle that favors his party, and the state is undoubtedly becoming a reliable swing state.”
Another issue the GOP has is holding onto to seats, Carpenter warned. “Defending Republican incumbents in places like Ohio, North Carolina, Maine, and Iowa will also be a challenge. In Ohio, Senator John Husted was appointed to fill the remainder of Vice President J.D. Vance’s term, so his incumbency has yet to be tested. Ohio has moved to the right in recent elections, but it shouldn’t be taken for granted. In Maine, Senator Susan Collins has a history of defying the polls and the pundits and sometimes winning stunning victories when it looks like she’s been in trouble. Maine can be mercurial in that they have elected Republican and Democrat candidates for statewide office who represent dramatically different visions, Collins seems to have found success carving out a unique brand of New England-style Republicanism that often puts her at odds with her conservative colleagues in Washington.”
Elsewhere, Carpenter explains, “Iowa, like Ohio, has shifted to the right in recent years and should not be taken for granted either. North Carolina is a consummate swing state, and whoever wins in six months will likely win by tens of thousands of votes. Voter registration data in the Tar Heel state has shown Republican gains, however, former governor and Democratic nominee for Senate Roy Cooper has a significant war chest and name ID.”
Discontent with President Donald Trump’s administration and a handful of blunders on issues such as abortion, immigration, and the economy have caused pollsters and analysts to suggest that Democrats have a slim but growing chance of taking the U.S. Senate, but there’s a greater chance that the Republicans could lose their narrow majority in the House of Representatives. In a podcast interview last week, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) suggested that God might help Democrats achieve “vengeance” against Trump and the GOP.
“As someone who grew up in the Cornerstone Baptist Church, we put these things in God’s hands, and it tends to work out while at the same time doing what we have to do,” Jeffries said, looking ahead to the midterms. “We’re battling them on the economy, battling them on health care, battling them on ICE, battling them on their reckless war of choice in the Middle East. And we’re going to continue to keep our foot on the gas pedal,” he continued. “This is Holy Week, and ‘Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.’”
Jeffries added that Democrats will likely mount investigations and prosecutions against past and present Trump administration officials if they retake power, starting with former Attorney General Pam Bondi, referring to her as a “disgrace.” “I mean, she violated her oath of office. She weaponized the Department of Justice. … She deserved this,” the top House Democrat said. “We’re going to continue to hold her and others accountable, particularly in the aftermath of Democrats taking back control of the House in November.”
LifeNews Note: S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.
