by Robert Schmad
Behind closed doors and in public appearances, Republican Party leaders are raising alarm about the fiscal advantage Democrats have gained as the November election approaches.
Democrats had an ad advantage of expenses in nearly every Senate race since August, and the Congressional Leadership Fund, the main super PAC working to elect Republicans to the House of Representatives, is $70 million behind its Democratic counterpart in ad spending, According to to Politico. The situation has senior Republicans publicly and privately appealing to donors for gigantic bucks in an attempt to close the funding gap before voters go to the polls in November.
“Right now, left-wing billionaires are spending way more than we are,” said Montana state senator and National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) chairman Steve Daines he said in his speech at the Republican National Convention in July. “This is what keeps me up at night.”
Daines concluded his speech by urging listeners to visit the Republican fundraising website and donate to the party’s effort to retake the Senate.
Meanwhile, Dan Conston, president of the Congressional Leadership Fund, told a Republican Party event in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in mid-August that while he was pleased with some key House picks, his organization needed an additional $35 million to keep Democrats at bay, Politico reported.
North Carolina Republican Rep. Richard Hudson, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), also agreed that the influx of Democratic funds spells trouble for the GOP, according to Politico. Hudson and Conston told donors at a retreat in Wyoming that the total difference between the Republican and Democratic candidates in the top-tier races is about $37 million.
In the Senate, Republicans are trailing Democrats in Arizona by $57 million in ad spending, according to Politico, while Democrats maintain a $41 million advantage in ad spending in Wisconsin and Nevada.
“Money can’t buy love, but it can influence elections,” NRSC Executive Director Jason Thielman told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“The only thing stopping us from having a great night in November is the huge financial disparity that our party currently faces,” he continued. “We are on course for a majority, but if nothing changes drastically in the next six weeks, we will lose winnable seats.”
Republican parties in key states of Arizona, Wisconsin and Minnesota also massively raised and spent more money than their Democratic counterparts in the recent wave of campaign finance disclosures.
It’s not all bad news for the GOP, though, as Republican David McCormick and his affiliates have a $30 million lead over incumbent Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey and former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and his allies, who are $9 million ahead of Democratic challenger Angela Alsobrooks in the race for the state’s open Senate seat, according to Politico. Casey, however, has a clear lead over McCormick in the polls, and the incumbent senator leads his Republican rival by 6.5 points in a Real Clear Polling poll average surveys.
Hogan and Alsobrooks are neck and neck in deep blue Maryland, though, According to according to recent polls.
“When Republicans have the resources to tell this story, we win,” NRCC spokesman Jack Pandol said, according to Politico. “We simply cannot allow a green tsunami of Democratic cash to change the conversation away from the issue.”
The NRCC and Congressional Leadership Fund did not immediately respond to DCNF’s request for comment.
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Robert Schmad is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
