GOP Shifts Millions From North Carolina Senate Race to Kansas, Iowa, and Ohio
Republican strategists are reallocating campaign funds in a bid to maintain their Senate majority, cutting spending in North Carolina where the GOP nominee trails and boosting races in Kansas, Iowa, and Ohio.
Republicans are redirecting up to $10 million from the North Carolina Senate race, moving funds to bolster efforts in Kansas and other key battleground states in an attempt to preserve their majority in the Senate. The Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), a super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, has reduced its planned spending in North Carolina after initially earmarking $71 million for the state's GOP nominee, Michael Whatley.
Sources familiar with the SLF's strategy indicated that at least $8.2 million is now being allocated to support incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall in Kansas, with the total sum potentially exceeding $10 million before Election Day on November 3. Additionally, approximately $20 million is being diverted to Iowa to aid Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, and another $14 million is headed to Ohio for Sen. Jon Husted's campaign. An SLF source stated that this reallocation reflects "the most effective and efficient use of resources to do exactly that," referring to the goal of maintaining the GOP's Senate majority.
Concurrently, both the pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc. and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the official Senate GOP campaign arm, have reportedly canceled all future advertising spending in North Carolina through Election Day. This shift in strategy comes as the North Carolina race sees the Republican nominee, Michael Whatley, trailing Democratic candidate Roy Cooper, the former North Carolina governor, by nine percentage points in the latest RealClearPolitics polling average. Whatley, the former Republican National Committee chairman, faces Cooper in the upcoming midterm elections.
In Kansas, incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall is in a competitive re-election battle against Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton, a Methodist pastor. While Marshall won his previous election by over 11 percentage points, current polling averages show him leading Hamilton by a narrow 1.5 percentage points. More recent surveys from Emerson College and Wedgewood Polls indicate Hamilton has a slight two-point lead. The SLF has launched ads criticizing Hamilton, while Marshall's campaign has faced renewed scrutiny over his handling of an alleged child predator case at his church two decades ago.
The Republican party currently holds a 53-47 majority in the Senate, making the outcome of these closely contested races critical for maintaining control of the chamber.