Report: GOP Super PAC Pulls N.C. Ads, Shifts Cash to Kansas
The Facts
- The Senate Leadership Fund, the main super PAC aligned with Senate Republicans, paused its remaining advertising in North Carolina on Friday and redirected money toward Kansas, according to people familiar with the decision.
- The group had pledged $71 million in April to help Republican nominee Michael Whatley win the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Thom Tillis, but spent about $30 million before halting roughly $18 million in reserved ads.
- In Kansas, the super PAC reserved more than $8 million in airtime to support Sen. Roger Marshall, who faces Democratic nominee Adam Hamilton, a Methodist pastor. Marshall won his first Senate race by over 11 points in 2020.
Sources Split
LEFT
CENTER
RIGHT
+2
+2
+1
ESTAB
CRIT
CENTER
PRO
ESTAB
The Spin
Democratic narrative
No amount of Republican cash can buy a way out of this mess. Voters stuck with higher prices, gutted benefits and a party that bends to Trump instead of delivering anything useful aren't going to be talked out of their anger by another wave of attack ads. Pouring millions into defending blood-red turf is the clearest admission that the message, not the money, is the problem.
Republican narrative
Smart campaigns spend where victory is actually possible, and dumping cash into a race already slipping away would be malpractice. Protecting a Senate majority means feeding the contests that can still be won instead of throwing good money after a nine-point deficit. Hard-nosed triage is how majorities survive bad cycles, and that discipline is a strength, not a surrender.
