The Senate Leadership Fund, which serves as the main super PAC for Senate Republicans, is shifting millions of dollars toward defending the Kansas Senate seat while cutting back on its spending in a Republican-held seat in North Carolina, according to sources. The change reflects preparations by both sides ahead of what could be close Senate contests this fall.
By Friday, the Senate Leadership Fund had put down a reservation for $9.8 million in advertising in Kansas, according to AdImpact. The group previously spent $17.5 million in 2020, which is when Marshall first secured the seat. This year, the PAC has already committed more than $30 million to the North Carolina Senate race, according to FEC filings. Semafor was the first to report the move from North Carolina to Kansas.
Sen. Roger Marshall, a Republican incumbent in deep-red Kansas, is trying to stop pastor Adam Hamilton from becoming the first Democrat to serve in the Senate from the state since 1932. A new survey shows the contest is a statistical dead heat.
CBS News received a statement from Hamilton spokesperson Tyson Brody, who said: “Washington is panicking over desperate failing politician Roger Marshall. They’re sending in millions to try to distract from Marshall’s record of supporting the war in Iran, gutting healthcare, and raising prices on everything from gas to groceries.”
Thursday saw the release of an ad from Marshall’s campaign, which pointed at Hamilton and alleged he had covered up child abuse within the large church where he serves as senior pastor. Hamilton referred to the ad as “exactly the kind of dirty politics … that everybody hates.”.
In an ad responding to the charge, Hamilton denied it, noting that the church investigated allegations against a youth retreat volunteer more than 20 years ago, reported him to police and banned him from church programs — all claims that a Kansas City Star examination of court records confirmed.
CBS News has reached out to Marshall’s campaign for comment.
The North Carolina Fight
A recent poll of the North Carolina Senate race put former two-term Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper ahead of GOP nominee Michael Whatley, a Trump ally who once led the Republican National Committee. When asked by reporters whether he was concerned about Whatley’s prospects, Mr. Trump replied: “I am.”
“I hope he wins,” said Mr. Trump, who held a rally for Whatley in North Carolina last month. “He’s a great man, he was a great leader for the whole Republican Party when I won, and he’d be a great senator.”
Cooper’s campaign manager, Jeff Allen, told CBS News that North Carolina is still a “50-50 state,” noting that a Democrat hasn’t won a Senate or presidential race there in almost 20 years.
DJ Griffin, who works for the Whatley campaign, made a statement about it. He said: “Cooper recently said about federal elections in North Carolina, ‘Democrats are often ahead until they are not.’ Undecided Voters who break late decide the election in North Carolina and the majority of those Late-Breakers typically go Republican. We feel confident we have the resources to highlight Career Politician Roy Cooper’s 40 Years of Failures and win in November.”
“We’re in the fight for our lives with a record number of toss-up races.”
That’s how GOP Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina described the stakes last month, speaking behind closed doors to lawmakers as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Scott argued the party can still hold onto control by concentrating on a small number of races — among them seats in Maine and Texas — while also targeting Democratic-held seats in New Hampshire and Michigan.
Both campaigns feel the strain of the final weeks before the midterms, and the PAC’s spending choices show it.
It remains unknown whether the PAC’s funding will secure the seats it hopes to preserve, a matter that November alone will resolve.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs neither side’s particular spending plan and instead supports campaigns that stay close to the north star of individual freedom, small business, and no concentrations of power, rather than treating elections as a contest between two parties each gathering more power. The Senate Leadership Fund’s shift from North Carolina to Kansas is a tactical move, not a statement of principle.
The fund’s $9.8 million reservation in Kansas and its $30 million commitment to North Carolina reflect a practical calculation about which seats are most in doubt, but they do nothing to advance the paper’s core concerns. Both races remain tight, and the PAC’s money is aimed at protecting Republican control of the Senate.
What matters to the paper is that candidates and campaigns keep their promises to voters, that they avoid corruption and misuse of office, and that they stay true to the principles of individual freedom, small business, and no concentrations of power. The paper would prefer campaigns that address the issues that actually affect voters’ daily lives, like health care, prices, and the war in Iran, rather than attacks on opponents’ pasts.
Source material: “Senate GOP group pours millions into defending Kansas seat,” CBS News.
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