Dems sound alarm that CLF is outgunning them

Democrats are sounding the alarm this morning that CLF has them outraised and outgunned in key races, and that Democrats now “lack the funds needed to fully contest all of their potentially winnable House races this cycle,” as some long-held Democratic seats are “no longer being contested by national Democratic groups.”

No wonder. As CLF President Dan Conston put it, “A key plank of our strategy this cycle has been to expand the map to as many competitive districts as possible. The net effect of that is that it forces the other side to make very difficult choices about who to fund and where their firewall is.”

Now it’s becoming their reality.

In case you missed it…

Democrats sound alarms about funding in battle for House majority
Michael Scherer
Washington Post
October 7, 2022
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/10/07/house-democrats-fundraising/

Top Democratic strategists have concluded that they lack the funds needed to fully contest all of their potentially winnable House races this cycle, people familiar with the situation said, forcing tough decisions about where to spend on television ads as Republican outside groups flood the airwaves.

The relative shortfall in outside spending is likely to leave some Democratic incumbents in contested races at sharp advertising disadvantages, while restricting the party’s ability to compete in open seats or to unseat Republican incumbents, these people said.

“There are places that I don’t know if we are going to be able to get to,” said Tim Persico, the executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “It’s just money. They have billionaires and corporations stepping up with big checks and we just don’t have the same type of support. We are just getting outspent everywhere, so it is just a question of how much can we withstand.”

Democrats pointed to a TV ad spending advantage by Republican outside groups, which have the flexibility to move money around the House landscape strategically in the final weeks. That edge has become more alarming as a recent shift in the national mood has put more seats in contention for Democrats, who find themselves hamstrung by the Republican advantage in donors on the GOP side.

Another House Democratic strategist said the inability to fully fund key races could prove to be the difference between winning and losing control of Congress, or between keeping Republicans to a five-seat majority and a 15-seat majority. “I don’t think it is hyperbole to say at this point that money is going to make the difference,” said this person, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk more freely about strategy.

Democrats are not favored by nonpartisan analysts to hold the House this cycle, due to the narrow majority they now enjoy and the historical head winds that the president’s party typically faces in his first midterm elections. But some Democrats feel their chances of winning have risen in recent months, given a summer spike in Democratic enthusiasm after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the ruling establishing a constitutional right to abortion and a recent uptick in President Biden’s approval rating.

It is not uncommon for party strategists to raise concerns about money in the final stages of campaigns, with some seeing such bluntness as a way to persuade donors who have stood on the sidelines to open up their wallets. With less than five weeks to go, Democrats see a competitive landscape where every dollar could matter.

Internal Democratic polling shows all of the party’s incumbents leading or trailing within the margin of error, according to Persico. “We don’t have anybody who is dead at this point,” he said Wednesday.

…

“A key plank of our strategy this cycle has been to expand the map to as many competitive districts as possible. The net effect of that is that it forces the other side to make very difficult choices about who to fund and where their firewall is,” said Dan Conston, the president of the Congressional Leadership Fund, the largest House Republican super PAC.

Democratic and Republican campaigns and outside groups purchased or reserved ad buys for similar amounts on broadcast television and cable from mid-August through Election Day, with Democrats putting up $330 million and Republicans putting up $316 million, according to AdImpact, a firm that tracks political advertising.

But $124 million of Democratic spending is being done by candidates, who spend their money where it is raised, meaning the ad buying is not always as strategic as national Democrats would like, compared to just $56 million by Republican candidates.

…

As a result, some long-held Democratic seats are no longer being contested by national Democratic groups at comparable levels to Republican groups, sometimes because new district lines were drawn, including multiple seats in Florida currently held by Democrats and the seat held by Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-Ariz.).

Retirements have also been an issue for Democrats. Based on current reservations, Democrats are not contesting parts of a district that overlaps areas previously represented by Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.), who lost a primary this year for another nearby seat. Democrats are also projected to be dramatically outspent in the seats held by retiring Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.) and Ron Kind (D-Wis.), two places where Republicans predict pickups.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has made the Republican candidate in Kind’s district, Derrick Van Orden, a top priority, even though he attended the Jan. 6, 2021, protests outside the U.S. Capitol, which led to a pro-Trump mob storming the building. An HMP reservation targeting Van Orden for the last two weeks of the campaign, after multiple weeks off the air, could still be pulled.

“He would probably lose a meaningful back and forth about his record and who he is,” Persico said.

In Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, where Democratic Rep. Jared Golden is seeking reelection, Republicans have reserved more than $3 million more in television ads than Democrats for the period between Labor Day and the end of the campaign, according to AdImpact. HMP has no reservations for two weeks in October in the district, compared to about $1 million in CLF spending planned for the same period.

“There has been a significant amount of donor enthusiasm behind taking back the House and ending Democratic Party rule, and I believe Democratic megadonors see the writing on the wall,” Conston said.

Democrats also worry they will not have funds to fully compete in some of the California seats occupied by Republicans, as well as the seat held by Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.), who lost her recent primary election to Joe Kent, a Republican who has denied the legitimacy of the 2020 election and denounced the legal treatment of Jan. 6 rioters as “banana republic stuff.”

“I think we can win that. It’s a little bit of a reach. I wish I had more money,” Persico said.