House GOP super PAC retreats from four battleground races as Democrats widen their map

House Republicans are pulling money out of several battleground districts with three weeks left before Election Day. The Congressional Leadership Fund, the main House GOP super PAC, has canceled planned advertising in four races stretching from the Midwest to the East Coast while pouring more cash into 16 other contests.

Where the money stopped

Two Republican campaign officials familiar with the plans said the group is done spending in Iowa's 1st District, where Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks faces Democrat Christina Bohannan for a third time. Their last race was decided by 799 votes. The district has felt Medicaid cuts tied to hospital service cuts and high diesel costs for farmers.

The same officials said the fund is also walking away from New Jersey's 7th District, where Rep. Tom Kean Jr. faces Democrat Rebecca Bennett. Kean missed four months of Congress this year and later said he had been in a mental health crisis. He has also faced questions about tariffs and the Iran war.

Officials named two more pullbacks: a Cincinnati-area Ohio seat and a district in east-central Michigan. Together those four races had drawn about $13.3 million from the fund through Oct. 13, more than 12 percent of its midterm spending so far.

Democrats try to widen the map

While Republicans retrench, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched a $17 million fundraising drive with an Oct. 22 deadline. Officials say the money would open advertising in districts once written off, including Ohio's 10th around Dayton, parts of the Miami area, suburban St. Louis and Little Rock.

Courtney Rice, the committee's communications director, said the drive is about the next tier of seats beyond the map Democrats already need for a majority. A June high-court ruling lets parties buy coordinated ads at the lower candidate rate, stretching those dollars further.

A defensive midterm

Republican strategist Stu Sandler said the spending map shows where both sides think the fight is real. David McIntosh of the Club for Growth said only two or three seats look like plausible Republican pickups and that voter anger over the economy has cooled enthusiasm.

Senate Republicans are also shifting cash toward defense, including a large new push in Nebraska for Sen. Pete Ricketts. The House fund is reinforcing districts where the 2024 presidential race was close. The next three weeks will test whether the retreat holds or whether late money races back into the seats now left exposed.