A Republican outside group has made late investments in Iowa and Georgia in an effort to fill strategic holes and boost GOP Senate candidates running in those states.
In Georgia, Ending Spending Action Fund, a super PAC, was already in the midst of a $2 million TV ad campaign to help businessman David Perdue in his competitive race for an open Senate seat against Democrat Michelle Nunn.
The super PAC now plans to spend an additional $500,000 there during the final week of the campaign on voter turnout activities. Perdue, who now trails Nunn in the RealClearPoltics polling average by 1 percentage point, needs the assistance.
In Iowa, the group’s affiliated nonprofit, Ending Spending, Inc., has invested $300,000 as part of a statewide radio and digital advertising campaign to bolster state Sen. Joni Ernst in her race for an open seat against Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley. Ernst led Braley in the RealClearPolics average by 2.5 percentage points, but the race is considered to be one of the closest Senate contests in the country.
“The research shows that a surround-sound media mix is the right way to reach voters. Therefore we do TV, radio and online advertising, and when we look at races and see that there are tactical opportunities, we get engaged,” Ending Spending spokesman Brian Baker said.
Ending Spending’s one-minute, Iowa radio spot includes criticism of Braley and positive testimony on Ernst, and is geared toward women. The Internet ad is a take on a popular television ad for the Dodge Ram pick-up truck that used a radio essay called “God Made a Farmer” that was recorded by the late radio commentator Paul Harvey.
Ending Spending’s Internet spot uses visuals to the Dodge ad while the voiceover, in the same cadence as Harvey, says: “God did not need a trial lawyer, and neither does Iowa.” Braley was a trial attorney before being elected to Congress in 2006.
The radio ad opens this way: “Bruce Braley likes to say working women in Iowa deserve the same opportunities, and the same pay as men. Unfortunately, Bruce Braley’s actions don’t match his words,” a female voiceover says.
Ending Spending was launched by TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts. The super PAC reported raising $17.2 million from Jan. 1 through Sept. 30 of this year. Ending Spending officials said the group brought in $1.2 million during the first two weeks of October.
Ending Spending plans to invest about $8 million down the stretch in key Senate races, including Colorado, Kansas and New Hampshire; and plans to be on the air in Louisiana during the expected runoff campaign between Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu and GOP Rep. Bill Cassidy.
Because the super PAC spent this money late, it is paying higher advertising rates. But with Democrats and their allied groups better funded than the Republicans and their outside supporters, Ending Spending’s participation in the campaign could prove particularly helpful. The GOP is aiming tries to capitalize on late-breaking opportunities in its bid to win six Democratic-held seats and Senate control.
The party also is trying to hold off surging opponents that threaten Republican nominees in typically safe GOP seats, such as in Georgia and Kansas, where Sen. Pat Roberts is in tough race with independent businessman Greg Orman. Ending Spending’s investment totals about $1 million.
