The Congressional Leadership Fund, the House GOP super PAC aligned with Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, has purchased $11 million in new advertising in 16 House districts from California to Rhode Island to recapture the lower chamber.
In an indication of late-breaking optimism for the GOP, the new ad buys in the final two weeks of the midterm election cycle include seven districts that President Biden won by double digits in 2020.
“CLF continues to raise record sums which has allowed us to press our advantage deeper into the map and forced Democrats into tough decisions,” said CLF President Dan Conston. “Republicans are in a great position to win the majority and we’ll continue making the investments we need in the final stretch.”
Among the seven targets is Rep. Katie Porter, California Democrat, who is facing Republican Scott Baugh. CLF is dropping $1.9 million extra in the final weeks in the district that Mr. Biden won by 11 points.
In Oregon’s 6th Congressional District, a new seat that is called a “toss-up,” according to the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, Republican Mike Erickson is pitted against Democrat Andrea Salinas. Former President Donald Trump lost in the communities covered by the new district by a 13-point margin. CLF is spending $800,000 on the race.
The super PAC gave $820,000 to Virginia’s 7th Congressional District to help Republican Yesli Vega in her closely watched race against Democrat Rep. Abigail Spanberger.
Additionally, CLF is devoting new spending to other races. The GOP campaigns in the 1st and 2nd Congressional Districts in Arizona are receiving a combined $1.8 million.
All told, the House GOP super PAC will be expanding ad buys against Democratic Rep. Judy Chu in California’s 27th District, $235,000; California’s 47th held by Rep. Alan Lowenthal, $1.9 million; California’s 49th held by Rep. Mike Levin $320,000; Connecticut’s 5th, held by Democratic Rep. Jahana Hayes, $320,000; Iowa’s 3rd, held by Rep. Cynthia Axne, $280,000; Minnesota’s 2nd, against Democratic Rep. Angie Craig; $270,000; Ohio’s 13th held by Rep. Tim Ryan, who’s running for Senate, $800,000; Pennsylvania’s 7th, held by Democratic Rep. Susan Wild, $500,000; Pennsylvania’s 8th, held by Rep. Matt Cartwright, $500,000; an open seat in Pennsylvania’s 17th, $750,000; Rhode Island’s 2nd District held by longtime Democratic Rep. James Langevin, $450,000; Texas’ 34th District held by Republican Rep. Mayra Flores, who won a special election in June, $350,000; Virginia’s 7th against Ms. Spanberger, $820,000; and Washington state’s 8th District held by Democratic Rep. Kim Schrier, $720,000.
CLF’s new ad buys announced Wednesday now add to its spending of over $210 million. In addition to the reservations for ads, the super PAC added $750,000 for voter turnout nationwide.
House Democrats’ own super PAC aligned with Speaker Nancy Pelosi has struggled to keep up with its GOP counterpart.
The Democratic House Majority PAC ended September with $82 million in the bank after spending $48 million so far in the election cycle, while CLF spent $102 million during that same period and ended September with $114 million in the bank.
Mrs. Pelosi wrote in a memo for the PAC, “Democrats have stronger candidates and a better message than the GOP extremists who care more about passing a national abortion ban than lowering costs for American families and moving our economy forward.”
She listed several races and called them “a critical part of our path to holding the majority, but we can only win if we have the resources we need in the final sprint to Election Day.”
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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