The National Republican Senatorial Committee has been spending on ads in key battlegrounds, teaming up with GOP candidates on joint ad buys. But the committee is now looking to expand the Senate map.
On Thursday, the NRSC reserved $669,000 worth of airtime in Washington state and $241,000 in Colorado, per AdImpact. Both ad buys begin next week — after Tuesday’s primaries. Washington is holding primaries Tuesday and nurse and veterans advocate Tiffany Smiley is expected to emerge as the top Republican.
The committee’s spending is a signal that Republicans believe they have a shot in the two traditionally Democratic states. Biden won Colorado by 14 points in 2020 and he won Washington by 20 points.
“We have great candidates in Colorado and Washington,” NRSC spokesman Chris Hartline wrote in an email. “Chairman [Rick] Scott said from the beginning of the cycle that our goal was to expand the map.”
Elsewhere on the campaign trail…
Georgia Senate: Warnock is already up with a new ad touting his vote to help pass the semiconductor bill, which he says will shore up jobs in Georgia.
Ohio Senate: NBC News’ Henry Gomez explores whether Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan can pull off an upset in Ohio’s Senate race.
Missouri Senate: Just a few days before the Senate primary, GOP Rep. Vicky Hartzler announced she would not support Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for majority leader if Republicans retake the Senate.
Wisconsin Senate: Democrat Alex Lasry, who dropped his Senate bid earlier this week, is converting $600,000 in ad bookings he had made for his primary bid into spots attacking Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, NBC News’ Natasha Korecki and Adam Edelman report.
Michigan governor: Michigan Families United, a super PAC backed by prominent GOP donors like the DeVos family and Richard Uihlein, is running a new ad responding to the Democratic Governors Association’s attack ads on Tudor Dixon, telling voters: “Don’t believe the liberal lies.”
Pennsylvania governor: GOP state Sen. Doug Mastriano is facing criticism for his ties to a right-wing social media platform called Gab, and its founder Andrew Torba, who has voiced anti-Semitic views and said the conservative movement “must be exclusively Christian,” NBC News’ Allan Smith reports. Mastriano responded by saying he rejects anti-Semitism, but blamed the media and Democrats for trying to “distract.”
Wisconsin governor: The GOP primary for governor in Wisconsin is the latest proxy war between former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence, NBC News’ Adam Edelman reports.
Vermont's At-Large District: Vermont is the only state that’s never sent a woman to either the House or Senate, but that could change this year, per NBC News’ Julie Tsirkin.
