Sensing an opportunity in swing-state Wisconsin, Republicans are pouring money into the bid to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin in that state’s closely watched Senate race.
Democrats also have dialed up their efforts in the contest, which remains crucial to their hopes of maintaining their Senate majority. They maintain an overall spending advantage and insist that the contest was always going to tighten as Election Day nears.
A loss in Wisconsin to GOP nominee Eric Hovde would make preserving Democrats’ majority extremely difficult in a national landscape in which Republicans have far fewer seats to defend this year.
That prospect has Republicans feeling optimistic about the race. “It’s pretty clearly a jump ball right now,” said Republican strategist Alec Zimmerman, who worked on Sen. Ron Johnson ‘s winning 2022 campaign.
Democrats as of Monday have outspent Republicans on advertising in the Wisconsin Senate race, $93 million to $69 million, according to AdImpact, which tracks campaign ad spending. Baldwin’s campaign accounts for more than a third of all Democratic spending on ads, while Hovde has been more dependent on outside groups.