(DCNF)—Republican super political action committees (PACs) have been forced to spend staggering amounts of money to rescue candidates in traditionally safe constituencies.
The GOP was spending record-breaking sums of money in red states and districts that President Donald Trump won by double digits in the 2024 presidential election. The party has grown increasingly worried that historically safe Republican states such as Texas, Ohio, Iowa and Alaska have turned into must-defend races in the midterms, which in turn led the party to spend less time and resources in other tossup races.
Three Trump-aligned groups, MAGA Inc., the No Going Back PAC and the Safety and Affordability PAC spent more than $163 million on advertising and air time since Sept. 1, according to KARK, an NBC News affiliate. The PACs spent nearly 40% of that money in states and districts where Trump won by at least ten percentage points in the 2024 presidential election, amounting to $63 million.
In Texas, Republicans expected to spend between $150 million and $200 million to save Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton from losing to Democratic Texas Senate nominee James Talarico, according to Punchbowl News. Texas PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund’s super PAC in Texas, will spend over $100 million in television advertisements to support Paxton after adding over $35 million to its $65 million in TV reservations.
The Texas Senate race was considered a “toss up” as of Aug. 20, according to the Cook Political Report. Talarico came under fire for identifying his favorite drag queen, claiming God was “non-binary” and that trans-identifying children were “God’s children” and “loved beyond measure.”
Paxton was embroiled in a long list of ethical and personal controversies, which included a proposed plea deal that would have allowed a man who admitted to sexually abusing a young boy to serve only one day in jail. His ex-wife, Republican Texas state Sen. Angela Paxton, filed for divorce in July 2025 over an extramarital affair.
No Going Back PAC Inc. announced it would spend $49 million on ads for seven races, including $15 million in Michigan, $11 million in Ohio, $10 million in New Hampshire and $4 million in Maine.
Ohio was the most expensive Senate race thus far, drawing more than $307 million on ads from both parties combined.
Republicans spent over $152 million to defend Republican Ohio Sen. Jon Husted against former Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who was running to flip Husted’s seat. Fairshake, a crypto super PAC, spent $30 million to oppose Brown, who has been a longtime crypto critic.
More than $110 million in Republican ad bookings since Aug. 1 have gone into House districts Trump won by double digits, including embattled Republican Ohio Rep. Max Miller’s district, who faced domestic violence allegations. The Congressional Leadership Fund placed a $4.85 million ad buy scheduled from Sept. 30 to Nov. 3 to support Miller against his competitive run against Democratic Ohio congressional nominee Brian Poindexter.
In Iowa, Republicans booked about $73 million in ads to bolster Republican candidates, including Republican Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson in her race against Democratic nominee Josh Turek.
Conservative political commentator and Iowa native Steve Deace issued dire warnings for Republican candidates in Iowa, arguing that the Iran war “has become a 2020 Covid lockdown level of political albatross.”
“Yesterday, Iowa House Republicans were informed by their own pollsters that if you are in a +15 district you’re within the margin for error, if you’re in a +10 district you’re underwater, and that this might end being an even worse midterm environment than 2006 … Whatever we’re doing or not doing in Iran/Hormuz has become a 2020 Covid lockdown level of political albatross,” Deace said. “This is approaching TARP bailout levels of unpopular in my home state. We are risking what’s left of the Trump presidency on this, because if Democrats take control the legislative branch the Trump domestic agenda we all voted for will largely cease between what a Democrat Congress will do and the courts have already been doing.”
Republican and Trump-aligned groups booked around $36.4 million in Senate ads versus the $21.6 million reserved by Democrats in Alaska, where Republican Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan faces a competitive matchup against former Democratic Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola, according to Punchbowl News. Sullivan will face off with another candidate with the same name on a ranked choice ballot, whom Republicans alleged purposefully entered the race to confuse voters and help Peltola win.
Former aides alleged they experienced profane outbursts from Peltola, according to The New York Times. She allegedly shoved a staffer, required aides to feed live crickets to her pet chameleon and sent text messages calling a commercial fishery executive a “retard” when he posted a selfie with her.
The Senate Leadership Fund reserved $15 million for Alaska’s Senate race in April. The group added $6 million in Michigan to help former Republican Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers, $4 million to help elect Hinson and $2 million in Alaska to help Sullivan in August, according to a press release.
Vice President J.D. Vance, who previously held Husted’s seat, campaigned in Ohio, Iowa, Maine, Kansas and North Carolina to back Republican candidates. He traveled to Kansas to campaign for Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, who was facing a challenge against Democratic Kansas Senate nominee Adam Hamilton.
Kansas has not elected a Democratic senator since 1932, when former Democratic Kansas Sen. George McGill won his election. He finished his term in January 1939.
Marshall’s chances of reelection remained up in the air after reports found that he sued more than 700 patients for unpaid bills while practicing as an OB-GYN, leading to 81 arrests, according to The New York Times.
Vance lightly addressed the allegations during a rally in support of Marshall.
“In Doc Marshall, you have a man who devoted his life to delivering babies and making sure that moms and children from every walk of life were safe and had the healthcare that they need,” Vance said at Webco Manufacturing. “So I ask you this November to stand for a man who stood for moms and babies, to stand for a man who stood for all Kansas. Let’s stand for Doc Marshall and send the crazy people packing, ladies and gentlemen. Elect Roger Marshall to the U.S. Senate.”
Vance campaigned in Iowa on Sept. 18 to support Republican Iowa gubernatorial nominee Zach Lahn and Rep. Zach Nunn, one of the most endangered incumbents this cycle.
The tech industry, sports betting groups, billionaires and special interest groups poured $1.2 billion into MAGA Inc., Fairshake, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and others ahead of the midterms.
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