Republicans have moved past accepting they will take a beating in the midterms to wondering whether it will be even worse than predicted, according to Politico, which reports the GOP is in "triage mode" as some candidates appear doomed on Nov. 3.
The party's "once-towering financial advantage is starting to show its limits," Politico reported. Republican groups have shifted money away from races they no longer believe they can win to reinforce seats in solidly red states that no longer look safe.
After abandoning a GOP-held Senate seat in North Carolina, a state Donald Trump won three times, outside groups began spending to defend a seat in South Carolina. They are also intensifying their advertising in Kansas, where Democrats haven't won a Senate race in nearly a century. In the House, national Republicans gave up on defending a blue-leaning Nebraska seat held for a decade by retiring GOP Rep. Don Bacon.
One national Republican strategist, granted anonymity to speak freely, said the GOP could face even worse losses than in President George W. Bush's second term. "If the bottom continues falling out like it has been," the operative said, "this will be worse than 2006." Another national GOP operative put it more simply: "fires everywhere."
On Tuesday, a GOP group linked to the Club for Growth added nearly a half-million dollars in planned spending to try to save GOP Sen. Roger Marshall in his tight race with Democratic megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton. A Club spokesperson said its ad reservations in the state total $1.6 million, "with more on the way." That came days after the Senate Leadership Fund invested $10 million in Kansas, even as it and other GOP groups canceled their ad reservations in North Carolina, where former Gov. Roy Cooper appears poised to flip one of the four seats Democrats need to net for Senate control.
"I'm glad they're here," said Kansas GOP Chair Danedri Herbert told Politico. "They are definitely helping us multiply our efforts, which will matter."
A Republican operative working on House races said the influx of Democratic spending means GOP groups have "got to go play defense in a lot of those red districts."
"There's only so much money going around," the operative added, saying that as Democrats "add more races to the board, obviously others have to come off."
