Republicans are spending heavily in states that should be safe for them with less than a month left before the midterms, a sign of how worried the party is about the Nov. 3 election, according to new reporting.
Republican super PACs are buying ads in states President Donald Trump won easily, and they've stopped spending in races they now appear to see as lost, reported Axios, and the 80-year-old president, whose approval ratings are near record lows, has also been campaigning in some of the most conservative parts of the country.
"Every time they up a buy [ads] on their end, it's always in the red states," said J.B. Poersch, president of Senate Majority PAC, the main Democratic outside group in the fight for the Senate.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who lost his primary to the Trump-endorsed Ken Paxton, said Republicans can't afford to spend everywhere.
"Some of these outside [GOP] groups such as the Senate Leadership Fund and others are going to have to figure out where their money is best spent," Cornyn said. "It looks like the money has already started to shift."
The Senate Leadership Fund, the main GOP super PAC for Senate races and an outfit closely tied to Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), pulled out of North Carolina last week. It then put $14 million into Kansas and sent $5 million to South Carolina to protect Sen. Darline Graham in a state Trump carried by 18 points.
In Texas, Republicans have spent well over $100 million trying to keep Paxton ahead of Democrat James Talarico. One SLF subsidiary there spent $131 million in 17 days, more than $7.7 million a day. Trump went to San Antonio on Wednesday, his second Texas trip in less than a week. He has also stopped in Oklahoma, Alabama, Ohio and Nebraska recently, while Vice President JD Vance has visited Alaska and is headed to Ohio.
The SLF has also added money to defend Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska and Sen. John Husted in Ohio, where its spending has now reached $93 million.
Democrats are cutting back as well – but they're scaling back in places where the polls have moved firmly their way. When Republicans gave up on North Carolina, Senate Majority PAC stopped advertising there too.
The same thing is happening in House races. Both parties canceled $1.1 million in ad reservations in Nebraska's 2nd District, an open seat that both sides apparently think Republicans can't win.
Republicans say moving their money around doesn't mean they've written off either chamber.
Democrats think they can make gains in Georgia, where Sen. Jon Ossoff holds a solid lead over Republican Mike Collins despite the SLF's initial $44 million investment there.
