Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is exploring the creation of a super PAC dedicated to supporting Senate Republicans on the 2016 ballot, sources tell the Washington Examiner.
Senate Republicans were at a financial and advertising disadvantage for most of the 2014 cycle, as Senate Majority PAC, the super PAC of outgoing Majority Leader Harry Reid, carpet-bombed the airwaves in targeted states on behalf of Democratic candidates. McConnell wants an organization that can do the same for Republicans in 2016, a presidential year, when his barely-minted majority faces a tough Senate map, with incumbents up for re-election in states like Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
McConnell sources confirmed Tuesday that the matter is under discussion, but said there was nothing to announce at this point.
McConnell wants to develop a contribution avenue for GOP donors who are specifically interested in helping Senate Republicans retain the majority. The Kentuckian wants buy-in from Republican outside groups, chief among them American Crossroads, that were considered crucial to helping GOP Senate candidates survive the advertising onslaught from well-resourced Democratic super PACs.
Josh Holmes, a top McConnell political adviser and campaign manager of his successful re-election bid, is in the process of holding conversations with donors and political operatives on McConnell’s behalf.
Senate Republicans and their campaign committee, the NRSC, formerly the National Republican Senatorial Committee, did receive a boost from GOP outside groups that spent hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of Republican Senate candidates in the midterm elections. Those groups included American Crossroads and its affiliated nonprofit, Crossroads GPS; the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Ending Spending Action Fund; and a host of organizations operating under the political umbrella of billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch.
McConnell received millions of dollars in crucial air support from a super PAC and a nonprofit sister organization, Kentuckians for Strong Leadership and Kentucky Opportunity Coalition, respectively. The groups were created specifically to boost the Senate minority leader’s re-election bid and run by Scott Jennings, one of his former political operatives.
Outgoing NRSC Chairman Jerry Moran said the support of outside groups was crucial to the Republicans’ success in the midterm campaign, and said the impact of such organizations is likely to grow in future cycles. The Kansas Republican said his party must compete with Democrats on this front if it hopes to hold its majority in 2016.
“A myth that’s been out there is that the Republicans are the ones with all the money. That’s not been the case,” Moran said. “Winning in 2014 is a good thing, but if it’s a two-year episode, it’s not a very good thing.”
Unlike Senate Democrats — who also had the support of myriad groups that poured millions into targeted races — Senate Republicans lacked a super PAC whose sole focus was to invest in their races. Even American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, considered the premier GOP outside groups and run by McConnell alum Steven Law, are not exclusively interested in Senate races, having spent in House races and the 2012 presidential contest.
Senate Republicans picked up eight seats in the midterms, and stand to gain a ninth if Rep. Bill Cassidy ousts Sen. Mary Landrieu in Louisiana in a December runoff. The map was friendly to the GOP, with seven victories coming in states President Obama lost in 2012 to Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Only two Republican wins — in Colorado and Iowa, where Obama won twice — occurred in swing states. Democrats held in every blue state.
The 2016 map looks a lot different, and very good for Democrats, at least partly because Republicans were so successful in blue states in 2010, the first midterm wave for the GOP under Obama. Democrats need to flip five Republican-held seats to win the majority, and at the outset of the cycle are targeting three in blue states that perennially vote Democratic for president (Illinois, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin) and three in swing states that voted for Obama twice (Florida, Iowa, Ohio).
The competition for resources in the 2016 cycle also will be fierce.
Unlike a midterm cycle, Republican congressional candidates will have to compete for resources with possibly a dozen Republicans who might run for president. This could complicate fundraising, and a Republicans interested in holding the party’s majorities in the House and Senate believe a super PAC with McConnell’s imprimatur could maximize fundraising for GOP Senate candidates and make them more competitive.
At least on the fundraising front, it worked for Reid. Just through Oct. 15, Senate Majority PAC reported raising more than $53 million over the course of the 2014 cycle.
Senate Republicans are the only caucus on Capitol Hill without a dedicated super PAC. House Democrats are supported by House Majority PAC, and House Republicans by Congressional Leadership Fund and its affiliated nonprofit, American Action Network. This cycle, CLF and AAN invested a combined $20 million in independent expenditure advertising in October, according to a joint press release issued by the groups after the election.
CLF is known in the donor community as being House Speaker John Boehner’s super PAC. A former Republican senator, Norm Coleman of Minnesota, chairs both CLF and AAN.
“We focused on closing strong and making a serious impact in October. We’re proud to have made a critical difference and helped elect candidates poised to re-shape the center-right movement,” he said in a statement released the day after the election.
