Republicans privately blame Trump super PAC as their cash advantage fizzles: Politico

Republicans have been counting on a huge cash advantage to protect their congressional majorities, but that edge is shrinking fast on the battlefield that matters most – and some in the party are blaming Donald Trump’s super PAC.

Republicans have spent $677 million on broadcast TV ads across 10 key Senate battleground states, compared with $479 million for Democrats, but the GOP’s money isn’t going nearly as far, reported Politico, because the party relies heavily on outside groups that pay much higher ad rates than candidates do.

In Ohio, Republican groups account for 63 percent of the $218 million spent on the Senate race, yet they make up just over half of the ads on the air, according to the tracking firm AdImpact. In Texas, Republicans have outspent Democrats three to one but have aired just 58 percent of the ads. In Michigan, the GOP accounts for 60 percent of the spending but only about half the spots.

Federal rules entitle candidates to much cheaper rates, and a recent Supreme Court ruling extended that to political parties.

That has let Democratic candidates, flush from huge fundraising hauls, offset much of the GOP’s super PAC money. Republican Senate candidates, meanwhile, have struggled to raise money on their own.

“Hard dollars really just go so much further,” said Sean Cooksey, a Republican and former Federal Election Commission member.

Several GOP strategists have privately griped that MAGA Inc., Trump’s well-funded super PAC, waited too long to reserve airtime. That forced it to pay inflated rates as Election Day approached.

The group didn’t launch its first general election ad buys until September, long after the Senate Leadership Fund and Congressional Leadership Fund locked in their reservations.

“There is no question MAGA Inc. should have bought ads earlier in the cycle,” one national GOP operative told Politico.

A person familiar with the Trump operation’s midterm planning insisted it’s “indisputable that the spending from the Trump political effort has kept us competitive in many Senate races.” MAGA Inc. declined to comment.

Democrats were happy to twist the knife.

“[Republicans] were just hoping that they could spend their way out of everything that was going wrong for them,” said Democratic admaker Ian Russell. “But the problem is, their issues run much deeper than a few ad buys can fix.”

Republican super PACs are still flexing their financial muscle in other ways. They have outspent Democratic groups on mail roughly $157 million to $35 million, including $23.8 million from Elon Musk’s America PAC. They have also spent more on phone calls and text messages.