Overview
- One Nation has reserved roughly $28 million in TV ads in Ohio and $11 million in Iowa, with additional buys including about $6 million in New Hampshire, and the ads are scheduled to start immediately and run through the summer.
- Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s political operation is planning more than $400 million in spending, mostly channeled through the Senate Leadership Fund super PAC that works with One Nation.
- The buys respond to tightening polls and local dynamics that have turned once-safe GOP seats competitive, notably Ohio where Jon Husted trails or runs close to Sherrod Brown and has been outfundraised by more than two to one.
- Iowa’s race has shifted because of farm-state economic concerns and backlash to tariff policy, boosting Democrat Josh Turek’s case against Rep. Ashley Hinson, while Democrats face their own hurdle in Maine after misconduct accusations against Graham Platner.
- Outside groups can move money and ads quickly, so summer airwaves and shifts in fundraising or polls will be key signs of whether the GOP strategy can reopen a wider map or lock in the narrow Senate battleground.