It’s that time of year — when party organizations make tough choices as to which races are important enough to deserve their prized resources down the stretch.
On Friday, the triage came for New Hampshire’s Senate race, where the GOP-aligned Senate Leadership Fund cut off Republican Don Bolduc and pulled its $5.6 million in remaining ad spending from the state to look elsewhere.
Steven Law, the group’s president, said in a statement the move was about “shifting resources to where they can be most effective to achieve our ultimate goal: winning the majority.”
While SLF funded an unsuccessful attempt to boost a more moderate challenger to Bolduc, the group kept hanging on in the state after he won the primary. The hope had been that the far-right Bolduc could still be competitive — but with other races trending in the GOP’s direction, it’s decided that money can go further elsewhere.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail:
Alaska Senate: Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski told reporters she’d rank Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola first in November’s ranked-choice election.
Arizona Senate: Politico reports on whether Arizona’s Senate race is tightening in the final weeks as GOP outside groups filled the void left by the Senate Leadership Fund’s decision to spend elsewhere.
Colorado Senate: Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis is endorsing Republican Senate hopeful Joe O’Dea, a move that former President Donald Trump criticized (O’Dea has said he’d campaign against Trump in 2024).
Georgia Senate: WANF in Atlanta reports the Georgia Secretary of State’s office is investigating a super PAC supporting Republican nominee Herschel Walker for giving out gas and grocery vouchers. State code prohibits gifts “for the purpose of registering as a voter, voting, or voting for a particular candidate,” but the group says it broke no laws because it gave out the gifts indiscriminately.
Nevada Senate: NBC News’ Natasha Korecki reports from Reno that Republican optimism is growing in the state’s Senate race, while Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto said about her opponent Adam Laxalt: “There should be consequences for people who undermine our democracy, who peddle the ‘Big Lie’ and conspiracy theories.”
Ohio Senate: Republican nominee J.D. Vance leads Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan by 1% among registered voters in a new Marist Ohio poll, 46% to 45%, a lead that’s well within the poll’s margin of error. Meanwhile, the New York Times reports some of the state’s Ukrainian community plan to vote against Vance for his comments about the war with Russia.
Washington Senate: Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray and her GOP opponent, Tiffany Smiley, debated Sunday evening about issues like the economy and abortion.
Arizona Governor: Amid some speculation whether Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake has aspirations for a presidential ticket, Lake told ABC News “I’m going to serve eight years as governor of Arizona.”
Florida Governor: A new Telemundo/NBCLX poll of likely Florida Latino voters shows the group breaking for Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis over former Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist by a margin of 51% to 44%, with 56% approving of DeSantis’ job as governor. The two will debate Monday evening. Meanwhile, Crist’s campaign manager resigned last week after an arrest in a domestic violence case.
Pennsylvania-07: NBC10’s Lauren Mayk reports on the pivotal swing House seat, speaking to both Democratic Rep. Susan Wild and Republican Lisa Scheller about their candidacies and their plans if they win.
