Republicans continue their efforts to flip the Senate, switching gears now in the battleground state of Wisconsin, where Eric Hovde, a Republican businessman and real estate mogul, seeks to unseat Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
A new report by the Associated Press shows Republicans have invested more heavily than Democrats in advertising in the last weeks leading up to Election Day, with $21 million in spots reserved between Monday and Nov. 5 compared to $15 million in spots reserved by Democrats.
Most of that spending comes from the Senate Leadership Fund, the political action committee led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, which has reserved $13.1 million in ad spots. The PAC has recently come under criticism by other Republicans for what they claim is McConnell playing favoritism in allocating funds.
Regardless, Hovde is seeking to seize the funds. "The momentum's on my side," Hovde said last week during an event in Milwaukee. "I plan to win this race. I will win this race because I'm going to stay focused on what matters."
Democrats, however, have outspent Republicans on advertising in the Wisconsin race throughout the campaign, with $93 million to the GOP's $69 million, according to AdImpact, which tracks campaign ad spending. Baldwin's campaign accounts for more than a third of al Democratic spending on ads, while Hovde has been more dependent on outside groups, the Associated Press reports.
New reports of partisan spending come as the race tightens with less than a month to go until the elections.
The Cook Political Report shifted the race to "toss-up" status this week, and public and internal polling has raised alarms that Hovde could be closing the polling gap, The Hill reports.
Cook's Swing State Project surveys show Baldwin's lead has shrunk since August, falling from a 7-point lead in August to a 2-point lead last week, making it the closest Senate race across the five battlegrounds tested.
Similarly, a polling average by FiveThirtyEight shows the Democrat incumbent with a 4.2 percentage point lead over her Republican challenger. Another polling average, however, by Decision Desk HQ and The Hill shows Baldwin with a closer, 2.8 percentage point advantage over Hovde.
Baldwin's campaign "has been very vocal with their supporters that this race is tightening," according to Wisconsin-based Democratic strategist Thad Nation, and that's "absolutely" prompting more concern among Democrats in the closely watched contest.
"This is Wisconsin. It's a tight race. I mean, most statewide races here are determined by 25,000 voters or less," Nation said. "Headed into the last three-and-a-half weeks of this race— this race was always going to tighten."
A win in Wisconsin is critical for Democrats as they seek to retain control of the Senate, particularly as the odds are currently against their favor since they have more seats to defend than Republicans.
The GOP needs just two seats to take control of the chamber of Congress, and with some of Baldwin's fellow Democratic incumbents being increasingly comfortable, this scenario seems as plausible as ever. In Montana, Republican Tim Sheehy is now favored to oust Sen. Jon Tester (D), and Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio is facing a toss-up race against Republican Bernie Moreno. The open Senate seat in Michigan is also rated a toss-up.
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
