GOP Dumping Cash Into Red States       09/23 06:30

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans are growing increasingly grim about their 
chances in November, with aligned groups pumping money into reliably red states 
and candidates scrambling to distance themselves from unpopular White House 
policies.

   From Texas to Ohio and Alaska to Iowa, campaigns are grappling with a fed-up 
electorate that is sour on the president and angry over 
https://apnews.com/article/consumer-prices-inflation-fed-interest-rates-c76f53f7
a53def0c464ca44ac637f203 driven by an 
https://apnews.com/article/trump-approval-iran-war-poll-republicans-election-55e
9c80afec521d87f131393a59674c0. While Republicans are flush with unprecedented 
cash that could move the needle in some races, overall the mood is glum heading 
into the election's final stretch as campaigns try to counter palpable 
Democratic enthusiasm to maintain their narrow lead in the House and Senate 
this November.

   "Everybody is tired. You see the poll numbers. Everybody is cranky about gas 
prices," said Jeanette Hoffman, a Republican strategist from New Jersey. "The 
party in power is playing defense. This is a referendum on the incumbents."

   Trump is trying to protect Republicans with cash 

   After mounting pressure from endangered candidates in battleground states, 
groups affiliated with President Donald Trump finally began unleashing their 
stockpile of campaign cash earlier this month, joining with Republican 
committees that have amassed a record fortune that dramatically eclipses their 
Democratic counterparts.

   "Republicans have air superiority. House Democrats are scrambling to catch 
up with the very limited resources they have," said Mike Marinella, a 
spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

   But the spending underscores the extent to which Republicans are playing 
defense.

   Three Trump-aligned groups -- MAGA Inc., No Going Back PAC and Safety and 
Affordability PAC -- have spent more than $163 million on advertising and air 
time since Sept. 1. Nearly 40% of that money -- more than $63 million -- has 
been spent in states and districts where Trump won by 10 percentage points or 
more in the 2024 election, according to an Associated Press analysis of data 
from AdImpact, which tracks media spending and ad buys.

   That includes 12 House districts and three states with major Senate races.

   In Texas, Republicans have spent nearly $107 million on ads and reservations 
since the beginning of the month trying to bolster 
https://apnews.com/article/paxton-talarico-texas-senate-ed48f727f8df069935cb6366
0a278891 in his Texas Senate race against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico. 
The spending, which is for ads through Election Day, is nearly four times as 
much as Democrats in a state Trump won by nearly 14 points.

   Further north in Ohio, Republican spending to defend Sen. Jon Husted has 
exceeded $152 million, compared to $90 million on behalf of Democratic nominee 
Sherrod Brown, according to AdImpact.

   Terry Casey, an Ohio Republican strategist, said both Republicans and 
Democrats are "kind of sitting on pins and needles because of the national and 
economic circumstances." The outcome, he said, would depend on whether 
Democrats can turn out voters.

   Democrats are competing in red states 

   States that Trump won by wide margins -- like Texas, Iowa, Ohio and Alaska 
-- have become some of the most competitive battlegrounds in the midterms.

   The White House is even investing time in states that haven't been 
considered competitive for years. Vice President JD Vance recently traveled to 
Kansas to campaign for Sen. Roger Marshall, who is facing a challenge from 
Democratic nominee Adam Hamilton.

   The founder of the nation's largest United Methodist church, Hamilton 
received a rousing welcome from scores of people who crammed into a Topeka 
coffee shop to see him Tuesday.

   "In all my 50, 60 years in politics, I've never seen a candidate that quite 
has the momentum going," said Jim Ploger, an 82-year-old longtime Democratic 
activist from Topeka who believes Hamilton gives the party "the best chance 
we've ever had" to win a Senate seat.

   Vance has also been to Iowa, Ohio, Maine and North Carolina to bolster 
Republican candidates, while Trump is also hitting the road. The week after the 
party's unusual midterm convention in Dallas, he traveled to North Carolina to 
hold a rally with Michael Whatley, his former national party chairman. 
Republicans are increasingly concerned that he could fall short in his Senate 
race against 
https://apnews.com/article/north-carolina-primaries-senate-redistricting-4467e23
d7fba545c6679d543ce936902

   There are more concerns about Georgia, where Rep. Mike Collins is trying to 
unseat Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff. Although Ossoff began the cycle as 
Republicans' top target, Collins has endured weeks of negative headlines about 
a House ethics investigation and his son-in-law's white nationalist views.

   "I don't think anyone's expecting Collins to win," said Tim Waters, chairman 
of the Peach County Republican Party. "Do I like that? No, I don't like that. 
But it's just the facts."

   In Texas, officials are hoping a huge influx of last-minute cash will help 
save Paxton. Sen. John Cornyn, who lost his primary to Paxton after Trump 
turned on him earlier this year, isn't so confident.

   "I think it's going to be very rough, lots of headwinds," he said. "Even in 
places like Texas, which are pretty red, we've got flawed candidates who I 
think are going to have a hard time."

   Republican National Committee spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre said the 
party is focused on turnout and is well aware of the historic trend in which 
the party in control typically loses seats in the midterm.

   "We have money to spend and we're not taking anything for granted this 
cycle," she said. "This is very high stakes, and it's unfortunate that other 
people feel glum and down. But we're doing everything we can to protect and 
expand our majorities so we're full steam ahead."

   Party officials are more bullish on races in Maine and New Hampshire, where 
Democrat Kamala Harris won in 2024, and remain optimistic about Michigan, where 
Trump won by less than two points and where former Rep. Mike Rogers faces 
progressive Democrat 
https://apnews.com/article/michigan-primary-senate-elsayed-stevens-60c79349b60ff
bf24a34d60b76e130ed.

   Some Republicans call for an end to the war 

   Some Republicans are taking steps to distance themselves from Trump even as 
he urges his supporters to vote like he is on the ballot.

   Rep. Tom Tiffany and Rep. John James, the party's nominees for governor in 
Wisconsin and Michigan, https://x.com/mattsmith_news/status/2102500483671769161 
to the war in Iran.

   "War is terrible, and no one likes war," James told reporters.

   Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate nominee in Michigan, 
https://x.com/MikeRogersForMI/status/2102115999025672433 in which he also 
called for ending the war. Standing in a grocery store, he bemoaned high prices 
and said the government should suspend gas taxes and stop diesel exports.

   "The war with Iran needs to end and end quickly," Rogers said. "Michigan 
families can't afford to wait."

   In Iowa, where Republicans are trying to hold onto the Senate seat being 
vacated by retiring Sen. Joni Ernst, Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is locked in a 
tight race against Democrat Josh Turek, voiced the same frustrations.

   "Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn't have to foot the bill at the pump 
or the checkout line for the war in Iran" 
https://x.com/hinsonashley/status/2102046188249719095?s=46. "These actions to 
lower costs are needed ASAP, and the war needs to be brought to a successful 
and immediate end."

   Hinson, however, did not join 
https://apnews.com/article/iowa-midterms-iran-war-resolution-f0a15e467570b9c6278
07e47236019a5 -- U.S. Reps. Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks -- in voting 
with Democrats on a resolution intended to halt Trump's ability to continue 
military action without lawmakers' approval.

   Perhaps the most dramatic break with Trump came from Rep. Maria Elvira 
Salazar, a Republican defending her seat in a competitive, majority Hispanic 
South Florida district. Last week, she released an ad filmed in front of the 
White House as she criticized the president for going "too far" on immigration 
policy.

   Others have 
https://apnews.com/article/midterm-elections-republicans-trump-popularity-disapp
roval-95f59e3ab09f5ee0e68349530ff8c8ea from their websites. The latest was 
Republican Byron Donalds, who is running for governor in Florida, who 
https://byrondonalds.com/ his site so that it no longer includes a number of 
https://web.archive.org/web/20260818013220/https://byrondonalds.com/ to Trump 
and his endorsement, the 
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article31733
5973.html#storylink=cpy first reported.

   'It's a very competitive environment out there' 

   White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said Trump "is the unequivocal leader, 
best messenger, and unmatched motivator for the Republican Party" and that "the 
choice has never been more clear: doubling down on President Trump's winning, 
commonsense agenda or the Democrats' extreme liberal policies and obstruction."

   Some Republicans are acknowledging that voters aren't satisfied.

   "We shouldn't say, 'Hey everything's perfect,' because it's not," said Sen. 
Bernie Moreno of Ohio. "But look what we've done in 18 months, and we need two 
more years to finish the job."

   Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, who has traveled across the country 
campaigning for his colleagues, said Democrats appeared to have enthusiasm on 
their side in the midterms, and he said his party needed to level with the 
country.

   "You can't look the American people in the eye and say, 'Don't believe your 
lying checkbooks,'" he said. "The cost of living increase is real."

   He also said that voters are "confused about the war" and "they don't 
understand how we're going to get out."

   Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., was measured in his assessment on 
Tuesday.

   "Well, I'm hopeful, obviously, but also realistic," he said. "It's a very 
competitive environment out there."