Democrats gear up for ads blitz

Party hopes to retake House with $44 million campaign

Friday, May 30, 2014

WASHINGTON -- House Democrats are ready to empty their deep pockets for television ads in their uphill climb to overtake Republicans as the majority party.

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The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Thursday began asking television stations in 36 districts to set aside broadcast and cable advertising time for the fall's campaign blitz.

The committee made almost $44 million in advertising requests, or $1.2 million per race. That's the largest ever from the committee and the biggest so far this election year from a party-run campaign committee.

Separately, Senate Democrats' campaign machine booked more than $9 million in three states for fall ads. And Senate Republicans' political committee also put down $2.1 million for ads in Colorado for Rep. Cory Gardner starting in September.

To defend endangered incumbents, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee plans $4.7 million to help Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado, $3.6 million to help Mark Pryor of Arkansas and $1 million to help Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire.

The Associated Press obtained race-by-race budgets for the House spending from party officials who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss spending plans by name.

The spending plan reveals which races the Democrats plan to spend money on and when. The party committee cannot coordinate with allies at super political action committees, but it can point to public sources such as news stories to ensure outside groups are not missing races or wasting money on redundant ads.

The tactic comes with a risk: Republicans can now see when the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee plans to be on the air and in which markets.

For instance, the committee plans to spend $2.8 million on broadcast and cable ads in the Washington, D.C., media market between Oct. 21 and Nov. 4.

Rep. Frank Wolf, a 17-term Republican, is retiring and Democrats plan to compete in his northern Virginia district, which is home to Washington suburbs.

In all, the campaign committee plans to spend money in 19 districts to defend incumbent Democrats, mostly newcomers, and in 17 districts that are in Republican hands.

In 2010, the previous nonpresidential campaign year, the committee reserved $28 million in advertising time to defend 39 Democratic-held seats and to challenge just one GOP-controlled seat.

The spending figures reflect the significant fundraising advantage Democrats have built over Republicans. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ended April with $43.5 million in the bank.

The Democratic committee has raised almost $107 million this election cycle while the National Republican Congressional Committee has raised almost $68 million and began May with $32 million in the bank.

The big spending still might not be enough to tip the balance of power. House Republicans have 233 seats and Democrats have 199 seats. There are three vacancies.

Congressional districts redrawn after the 2010 Census heavily favor Republicans.

The Democrats' ad reservations can be modified should individual races become less competitive. But by booking the time so early, the party committee locks in a lower price and a discount of as much as 35 percent.

A Section on 05/30/2014