The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC dedicated to putting Republicans into the House to keep a majority in the U.S. House, is dumping over $3 million between two of the most competitive congressional races in Florida.
On Monday, the super PAC announced it would be spending a total of $10 million in a dozen of the most competitive races in the country. Florida, a hotbed for nail-biter races, will be ground zero for many hyper-competitive races.
The battle for two South Florida seats -- in CD18 and CD26 -- has caught the attention of the super PAC, and it’ll spend big money to ensure Republicans are victorious come November.
The group will spend over $1.3 million in CD 18 and will throw an additional $1.7 million in TV and digital ad buys into the CD26 race. The ad buy will include TV ads in the West Palm Beach media market and digital advertising starting October 18.
“This is the first wave of efficient, strategic ad reservations,” fund president Mike Shields said in a statement.
CD18, which includes St. Lucie and Martin counties and a portion of Palm Beach County, is already making headlines as one of the most competitive races in the Sunshine State.
Six Republicans, including former state Rep. Carl Domino and Rebecca Negron, are currently running for the GOP nomination.
The CLF has also honed in on CD26, which covers Monroe County and a portion of Miami-Dade County and the Florida Keys.
The race for that seat has been especially bitter on the Democratic side between Annette Taddeo and Joe Garcia. The two are essentially in a dead heat for the candidacy, with several polls showing them neck-and-neck, and will face off against Rep. Carlos Curbelo for the seat this fall.
The super PAC, recognizing the importance of the seat, will spend big money to attack Democrats in the race, indicating they're ready to go on an all-out offensive against the winner of the August primary.
CLF has a strong winning record despite being relatively new on the scene. Founded in 2011, CLF helped elected the largest Republican House majority since 1929 in 2014.
CLF spent $11.5 million during that election cycle. Combined with its sister organization American Action Network, the groups represented the largest outside spender in Houses in 2014.
“We’re proud to support Republicans running on providing conservative, solutions-based leadership in the House. From the airwaves to the ground game, Democrats will have no place to hide from their support of the failed Obama-Clinton agenda,” said spokeswoman for CLF Ruth Guerra.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
