With Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson continuing to trail Democrat Russ Feingold in the polls, national Republicans have just decided to wash their hands of this contest almost completely. The NRSC has canceled their entire $1.1 million TV reservation. The NRSC says they’ll still go ahead with their coordinated ad buy with Johnson, but that’s not going to matter much: Under federal law, groups like the NRSC can spend no more than $430,400.
Democrats still have some TV reservations here, but that may not be true for much longer. Last week, the DSCC axed their planned ad buy for the first week of October. And hours after the NRSC news broke on Monday, Politico reported that the DSCC has decided to cancel their buy for the week of Oct. 17 as well.
With the NRSC leaving the Badger State, it looks unlikely that other powerful conservative groups will come to Johnson’s rescue. While the Senate Leadership Fund, an organization that is close to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, recently announced $21 million in new spending in six states, they are continuing to avoid Wisconsin. And while the Koch brothers group Freedom Partners spent $1 million on a TV buy two months ago, they haven’t returned to the airwaves.
Johnson still has one thing going for him: his net worth of $17 million. And while he’s sounded reluctant to self-fund this time, he still can. But while Johnson has the option to gamble his own moolah on this race, his allies have evidently decided just to fold now.
Let's give the GOP more bad news. Please chip in $1 to each member of our Daily Kos Senate slate.
Are you a member of MoveOn? No matter where you live, help defeat Donald Trump and take back the Senate by texting MoveOn members in swing states to knock on doors where they live.