By
The Congressional Leadership Fund is adding $37 million to their ad reservations ahead of the November midterm election.
The group, which is aligned with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy plans to spend the money on at least 20 congressional districts, they said in a release.
Districts that the CLF is adding to their spending plan for the first time this cycle include Indiana's 1st District, Texas 34th District, New York's 22 District, Iowa's 2nd District, Iowa's 1st District and New York's 17th District.
The races in Iowa's 1st and 2nd are currently rated as "Likely Republican" wins by the non-partisan Cook Political Report. Indiana's 1st District is currently represented by Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan, but it's rated a Toss Up by the Cook Political Report.
Texas's 34th District is currently represented by Republican Rep. Mayra Flores, who won a special election in June. For the fall, though, Cook rates the race Lean Democratic.
In New York's 17th District, Republicans seek to oust Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the powerful chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Cook rates his race Lean Democratic.
And in New York's 22nd, incumbent GOP Rep. Claudia Tenney decided to run in another district after redistricting. The Cook Political Report rates this race a Toss Up.
CLF said that 87% of their ads in this campaign will be offensive, attacking Democrats over issues like inflation.
This is consistent with ads the group has been running all summer, attacking Democrats like Rep. Kim Schrier in Washington for voting with President Biden and for supporting legislation that they say propelled inflation.
So far this cycle, the three races CLF has spent the most money in are California's 40th District, New York's 22nd District and Texas' 8th District, according to AdImpact, an ad tracking firm.
In California's 40th, Republicans are boosting Rep. Young Kim's re-election. She's a freshman House member and Biden won her district by two points in 2020.
In New York's 22nd, there's a scramble on both sides to replace retiring GOP Rep. John Katko. The non-partisan Cook Political Report rates the race a Toss Up.
The race in Texas' 8th is rated Solid Republican by the Cook Political Report, but there was an intense primary earlier this year where the CLF supported the eventual nominee, Morgan Luttrell.
