Scoop: PACs spending millions on "the border" in Senate races
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A screenshot of a TV ad for Tim Sheehy's Senate campaign.
A group aligned with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is spending millions in Ohio and Montana to slam vulnerable Democrats over the border and immigration, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Even in states hundreds of miles away from the southwest border, GOP leaders in Congress see President Biden's vulnerability on immigration as key to winning the Senate majority in November.
Driving the news: McConnell-aligned dark money group One Nation is rolling out a new $4 million ad buy in Ohio on Friday, hitting Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) for voting to "spend our tax dollars on illegal immigrants."
- The spot will run on broadcast and cable television as well as radio and digital.
By the numbers: Every ad that One Nation has run in Ohio and Montana this cycle has been border-focused, a One Nation spokesperson confirmed.
- The group has already spent nearly $7 million in Montana — where Democratic Sen. Jon Tester is seeking a fourth term — and more than $8 million in Ohio this cycle.
Zoom out: McConnell-linked Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) and American Crossroads PAC have booked nearly $50 million worth of ad space in Montana between Labor Day and the election.
- They've booked more than $82 million worth of ad space in Ohio over the same time frame.
- The groups have not reserved ad space in any other state, so far — a sign of how crucial Senate Republicans view Montana and Ohio to their efforts to win a majority.
- They are the only two competitive senate races in states where former President Trump won in 2020.
The other side: Democrats have been trying to defuse the GOP attacks by distancing themselves from Biden's border policies — a sign of just how problematic historic levels of migration and fentanyl trafficking at the border could be for the party in November.
- Both Tester and Brown's campaigns have run multiple ads focused on border security.
- Duty and Honor, a PAC linked to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), has spent $3.5 million on ads in the two states — with ads focused on border security and fentanyl.
- The ad for Tester touts him as "working with Republicans to shut down the southern border" and fighting for the "swift deportation of migrants who commit violent crimes."
