The super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is dumping $28 million into Ohio to bolster J.D. Vance (R), who is in an unexpected dogfight with Rep. Tim Ryan (D) for the seat being vacated by Sen. Rob Portman (R).
The Senate Leadership Fund revealed Thursday that it was adding Ohio to its list of targeted states and earmarking millions for television advertising after several weeks of brewing concern in GOP circles about Vance’s lackluster fundraising and polls showing Ryan competitive. Republicans had hoped to avoid spending in Ohio given that President Joe Biden’s job approval ratings are languishing and former President Donald Trump twice won the state by roughly 8 percentage points.
With the Senate Leadership Fund’s announcement that it plans to invest $28 million there between now and Nov. 8, the Buckeye State now ranks among the biggest recipients of advertising for Republican Senate candidates by the McConnell super PAC.
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“Tim Ryan has been living a lie, spending millions unopposed to sell voters on a version of himself that doesn’t square with reality,” Steven Law, president of the Senate Leadership Fund, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which reported the news. “That’s about to change as Ohioans get a clear picture of the real Ryan who votes down the line with Biden.”
Vance, a former venture capitalist and first-time candidate known for his bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, won a competitive Republican primary in May on the strength of the endorsement he received from Trump.
That campaign was fueled by millions in support from a super PAC financed primarily by GOP megadonor Peter Thiel, whom Vance previously worked for. Now, it appears as though Vance has a new super PAC benefactor, the Senate Leadership Fund.
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Vance entered July with just $629,000 in cash on hand, compared to Ryan’s $3.6 million. However, Vance was narrowly leading Ryan 45% to 42% in a fresh Emerson College poll conducted Monday and Tuesday.
