As the 2016 campaigns continue, candidates are spending more on advertising that attacks the other candidates (as opposed to ads that tout their own records of accomplishment). But who’s getting targeted most by super political action committees?
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Donald Trump is taking more heat from super PACs than any other candidate. From Jan. 31 to March 12, super PACs spent nearly three times more against Trump than any other candidate. Much of that heat has been recent. More than five times as much was spent against Trump than against Marco Rubio from March 6 to March 12.
But just because Trump is the front-runner doesn’t mean every super PAC is focused solely on him. Two super PACs affiliated with Ted Cruz, Stand for Truth and Keep the Promise I, spent in the most recent week of available data more against Rubio than Trump. Combined, they spent $1.2 million against Rubio, the only super PACs to spend against him. In that same time, they spent only $700,480 against Trump.
But Rubio’s super PAC didn’t return fire against Cruz. In fact, no major super PACs spent anything against Cruz from March 6 to March 12, even after Cruz won Kansas and Maine on March 5 and Idaho on March 8.
Instead, Rubio spent against John Kasich. Even though Kasich is last in the delegate count among active candidates, and last in most national polls, more than $1 million was spent against Kasich in that week. All of that money came from Conservative Solutions, the super PAC affiliated with Rubio.
From March 6 to March 12, Conservative Solutions also spent $1.5 million against Trump. But they’re getting a lot of help from independent super PACs that, at least in the presidential race, mostly just want to bring down Trump. Of the $6.7 million spent against Trump in the last week, $5.2 million has come from Club for Growth Action and Our Principles PAC, which aren’t affiliated with any presidential candidate.
Trump isn’t levelling any super PAC money against the other candidates. He just attacks them in the media and gets coverage from that.
Kasich has a super PAC, but it only spends in favor of him rather than against other candidates.
In terms of super PACs, the Democratic side remains quiet: No one has spent any money against Hillary Clinton in more than a month. Even then, it was coming from conservative super PACs, not liberal ones.
Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
