Outside groups have spent nearly $1 billion to boost Republican Senate candidates. Almost 90% of pro-GOP TV ads are being paid for by outside groups — compared to 55% for Democrats.
Because campaigns get lower ad rates than these groups, they can run more TV ads than outside groups for the same amount of moneyto keep pace with Democrats has meant these GOP outside groups have had to make up a lot of ground, spending more for less.
The biggest outside spender is the Senate Leadership Fund, the group aligned with Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. It has spent $219 million in eight states, with $110 million going to just three races — Georgia, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Each of those states feature Trump-backed Republican candidates, who have been struggling.
The top spender on the Democratic side is Senate Majority PAC, which has ties to Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. It has spent $145 million in six states.expenditures in addition to TV ad spending — like staffing, mailers, events and get-out-the-vote efforts — outside groups have so far spent more than $1.
on federal elections in 2022, including Senate and House races. It's a record for midterm elections and represents a massive escalation from recent years — double, for example, what was spent in 2014 and a 32% increase from 2018. Here are the top 10 states seeing the most spending on TV ads with a breakdown below that of what's come from campaigns versus outside groups: