In states that are expected to have close Senate and House races next year, Republican groups are on offense and are outspending Democratic groups early on the airwaves, according to an NBC News analysis of data from AdImpact, an ad tracking platform.
Two Republican-aligned groups -- American Action Network (AAN for short), which is linked to the GOP Congressional Leadership Fund, and One Nation, which is linked to the GOP Senate Leadership Fund -- have already spent a combined $6.2 million on TV ads this year, in certain key states.
AAN has spent over $200,000 in three separate districts: North Carolina's 13th District, where freshman Democratic Rep. Wiley Nickel narrowly defeated Republican Bo Hines in an open seat in 2022; in Pennsylvania's 8th District, where incumbent Democratic Rep. Matt Cartwright defeated Republican Jim Bognet by less than 2.5 percentage points last year; and in Washington's 3rd District, where Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez flipped a Republican seat to the Democratic side in 2022.
AAN has also spent heavily in Ohio's 13th District, Colorado's 8th District, Pennsylvania's 7th District, Ohio's 1st District, Michigan's 8th District, Alaska's at large district and others, primarily launching attack ads against vulnerable incumbent Democrats.
These ads have hammered Democrats on their positions against a House Republican energy bill and urging them to support Republican legislation regarding law enforcement.
AAN has also launched cable-only ad buys in Washington, D.C., hammering President Joe Biden on the debt limit, including a $250,000 digital and cable ad campaign the group announced on Wednesday.
Unrig Our Economy, a Democratic group, has also spent money in House districts, mainly targeting Republicans who won by narrow margins in 2022.
They've spent $400,000 so far in California's 13th District, where freshman Republican Rep. John Duarte won in 2022 by less than one percentage point.
They've also spent over $220,000 in New York's 19th District, where freshman GOP Rep. Marc Molinaro won by just one percentage point last year.
AAN is still outspending Unrig Our Economy, with AAN already having spent over $2.1 million this year and Unrig Our Economy having spent just over $700,000 on ads.
On the Senate side, One Nation has spent $2.7 million so far this year, concentrated entirely on the West Virginia Senate race, where Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin hasn't yet announced whether he'll run for re-election.
There, Duty and Honor PAC, a group linked to the Democratic Senate Majority PAC, has responded, spending almost $1.5 million so far to defend and support Manchin.
Other than that, the only Democrats to spend on Senate races so far are the candidates themselves. In Montana, which is expected to have a close Senate race, Democratic Sen. Jon Tester has spent over $145,000 on ads. And in California and Maryland, where each Senate race is expected to have a robust Democratic primary, candidates have spent heavily already.