GOP super PAC pouring $25M into six Senate races in bid to keep majority
A GOP super PAC is pouring a whopping $25 million into six Senate races as Republicans fight to keep their majority in the upper chamber, CBS News confirmed Tuesday.
The Senate Leadership Fund is making the investment in states with tight Senate races: Indiana, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, according to a report in Politico. Ian Prior, a spokesman for the super PAC, confirmed the details in the report to CBS.
Nevada will receive the biggest contribution from the super PAC: $7.5 million, according to Politico. The state’s Senate race for the open seat that Minority Leader Harry Reid will retire from at the end of the year is very close between Republican Joe Heck and Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto. Nevada is also a major battleground state in the presidential race.
In Indiana, former Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh is campaigning to win the open Senate seat there and incumbent GOP Sen. Roy Blunt is battling to keep his seat in Missouri as is Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire, Richard Burr in North Carolina and Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania.
The super PACs’ president, Steven Law, acknowledged to Politico that Republicans have an uphill climb to maintain control of the Senate. Democrats would need to gain five seats in order to win the majority. If they win four, the Senate would be evenly split 50-50
“Over the last two weeks, we’ve seen every liberal Democratic group descend on these races,” Law told Politico. “Democrats feel like the presidential race is in the bag for them and are looking for fresh game in the Senate.”
Karl Rove, a former adviser to George W. Bush, helped raise the $25 million being doled out to the six races, the report said.
CBS News’ Walt Cronkite contributed to this report.