House Democrats’ main political action committee announced $102 million in ad buys Wednesday as the party fights to retain its slim majority in the lower chamber.
The House Majority PAC reserved more than $86 million in TV spots and $16 million in digital advertising that will be spent in the final months of the 2022 campaign season. The investment is double the $51 million the group reserved in initial ad spots in 2020, when Democrats lost 13 seats in the House, shocking pollsters who predicted Democrats would expand their majority.
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“Through these historic television and digital reservations, House Majority PAC is making it clear that it is taking the early steps to do whatever it takes to protect and secure a Democratic House Majority in 2022,” House Majority PAC Executive Director Abby Curran Horrell said in a statement.
The ad blitz covers 50 markets across the country, with the largest investment in Las Vegas, where $11.6 million will be spent to bolster vulnerable Democrats such as Rep. Susie Lee.
Other top markets include Phoenix and Denver, where the House Majority PAC will spend $6.2 million and $4.4 million, respectively. Democrats are locking in the ad spots early to secure lower rates.
The party in power typically loses seats in a midterm election, a prospect partially responsible for the wave of 31 House Democrats retiring or seeking other offices at the end of their terms. The latest polls show Democrats trailing Republicans by 4 points on a generic ballot, according to the RealClearPolitics average.
Dan Conston, president of the Congressional Leadership Fund, the GOP counterpart to the House Majority PAC, argued the $100 million investment shows Democrats are in damage control mode.
“I think they believe they’ve already lost the majority,” he told the Washington Examiner in a statement. “This is about staving off losses in some deep blue, traditionally Democratic areas.”
Although much of the spending will be used to support incumbent Democrats, not all of the ad buys are defensive. The House Majority PAC will target swing districts in California, where Republicans such as Rep. Michelle Steel are vulnerable. Democrats are also eyeing the seat Republican Rep. Devin Nunes left to become CEO of former President Donald Trump’s media company.
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The GOP, for its part, has attempted to nationalize the 2022 elections, tying Democrats in Congress to inflation, a spike in crime, and the crisis on the southern border. Republicans, who only need to pick up five additional seats to win the House majority, are targeting 72 Democratic or newly created seats this election cycle.
“We know this is going to be a dogfight,” Tom Emmer, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Wednesday during a virtual news conference. “But we do have the message, candidates, and the resources that we’re going to need to win in November.”
