Defunded: This Move Is Evidence That McConnell Is Trying To Sabotage The MAGA Agenda

By Charles Susswein | Monday, 29 August 2022 05:15 AM
7
Views 2.2K

A major Republican super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is cutting nearly $10 million in advertisement spending in Arizona and Alaska.

The Senate Leadership Fund is dropping about $8 million in ads from the Arizona Senate race in which GOP candidate Blake Masters wishes to replace incumbent Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly. The ads were thought to start after Labor Day, but will now launch in early October.

Republicans only need a net gain of one Senate seat to flip the upper chamber. In addition to Arizona, November's elections will stress other crucial Senate races, including in Georgia, Nevada, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

 WATCH: BRITISH COLONEL RICHARD KEMP REPORTING FROM GAZAbell_image

Republicans are following in the polls to Democrats in some key battleground states, including Masters in Arizona.

The super PAC's move to cancel advertising is partly due to its $28 million investment in Ohio. GOP candidate J.D. Vance and Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, Ohio, are facing off in the state's Senate race.

 TRUMP READY TO DEBATE BIDEN 'ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, ANYPLACE,' BUT WILL IT HAPPEN?bell_image

"We're leaving the door wide open in Arizona, but we want to move additional resources to other offensive opportunities that have become increasingly competitive, as well as an unexpected expense in Ohio," Senate Leadership Fund President Steven Law told Politico. "We think the fundamentals of this election strongly favor Republicans, we see multiple paths to winning the majority, and we are going to invest heavily and strategically to achieve that goal."

 WATCH: NO CLUE WHY THEY ARE PROTESTING: "I WISH I WAS MORE EDUCATED"bell_image

However, the group is not preparing to pull out of Arizona completely. The super PAC initially invested about $14.4 million into the Arizona Senate race.

The super PAC’s cut in Arizona spending will likely give Kelly a significant advantage this fall regarding funds. The incumbent senator and Democratic groups have more than $40 million reserved for the fall, compared to Republicans' $18 million before the super PAC pulled ad investments, according to AdImpact.

 TIKTOK'S DOOMSDAY CLOCK IS TICKING: HOW WILL THIS AFFECT ITS 170 MILLION AMERICAN USERS?bell_image

The McConnell-backed organization also cut two weeks, or about $1.7 million, in advertising in Alaska in a move Law said was a show of confidence for incumbent Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

"We are all-in for Senator Murkowski. Senator Murkowski is in a very strong position and decided to push back our start date," Law said.

 WATCH: ILHAN OMAR WARMLY WELCOMES SUSPENDED DAUGHTER AT COLUMBIA'S ANTI-SEMITIC ENCAMPMENTbell_image

Ads backing Murkowski’s election campaign will now start Sept. 20.

Murkowski advanced to the top-four general election with about 45% of the GOP primary vote, before of Trump-backed Kelly Tshibaka's 39%. The general election will be determined by ranked-choice voting.

The super PAC said its cuts in Arizona and Alaska do not mean the group is in financial trouble, telling Politico it is "currently several million ahead of where we were for the month of August at this point in 2020."

X