Republicans are swamping House and Senate races with an unprecedented flood of late ad spending as the party tests whether hundreds of millions of dollars can buy it some reprieve from the eroding political environment that’s threatening longtime Republican states and districts.Since the start of September, Republicans have made more than $700 million worth of new advertising bookings in congressional races alone, according to an NBC News analysis of data from AdImpact, a political ad-tracking firm.That’s new money on top of what had already been committed to those races in ad reservations made over the summer.By comparison, Democrats booked more than $430 million in new ad reservations across those races last month.
The disparity is greatest in the battle for the Senate majority, where almost 7 of every 10 newly booked advertising dollars are coming from Republicans.That’s led by a massive, late investment in the Senate race in Texas, where Democrat James Talarico is threatening a longtime Republican seat and the GOP has poured in almost $150 million in new ad dollars to back up its nominee, Ken Paxton.The gap is smaller in the House, where a bit less than 6 in 10 of those new ad dollars are coming from the GOP.
Democrats still have a number of advantages in their corner, including President Donald Trump and his party’s eroding standing among voters, Democrats’ own well-funded candidates, and help from outside groups.Candidates can take advantage of a rule that allows them to buy television ads at cheaper rates than outside groups, too.But the color of the outside money flood shows how Republicans, increasingly on defense in both the House and the Senate, are able to lean on their financial advantage in hope of defying political gravity, as party bastions like Texas and even Kansas look more competitive than usual.“With the environment not on our side and an incumbent presidency, the three things we have going for us are good candidates, a good map ...