Mitch McConnell seems to be making moves in a political game of chess that ultimately decides which Senate candidates win their GOP races.
The Senate’s top GOP super PAC is cutting ad buys in Arizona and Alaska to move resources to other highly competitive races, the group said Friday, raising questions about the party’s hopes for Arizona Senate nominee Blake Masters.
The Senate Leadership Fund is cutting roughly $8 million worth of television, radio, and digital spending in Arizona throughout September and $1.7 million in ads in Alaska during the first two weeks of September, Fund spokesman Jack Pandol confirmed Friday.
“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,” SLF President Steven Law said in a statement. “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.”
While the change in Arizona might raise questions about Republicans’ view of Masters’s chances, Law said the decision to cut two weeks — or about $1.7 million in advertising — to boost Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is a vote of confidence in her. Murkowski advanced to the top-four general election with about 45 percent of the vote compared with 39 percent for Trump-backed Kelly Tshibaka; the general election will be decided by ranked-choice voting.
Law also said the group was “all-in” for Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who faces Trump-endorsed Kelly Tshibaka in November’s general election.
“Sen. Murkowski is in a very strong position and, based on that, decided to push back our start date,” Law said.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee separately canceled millions in ads earlier this month, planning to reprogram them to get more efficient buys alongside GOP candidates but sparking some skepticism about the group’s strategy. A spokesperson for the McConnell-backed super PAC said its moves in Arizona and Alaska shouldn’t be taken as a sign of financial trouble and that “we’re currently several million ahead of where we were for the month of August at this point in 2020.”
