For most of the cycle, North Carolina’s Senate race attracted very little outside spending, even as polls showed an unexpectedly close contest between Republican Sen. Richard Burr and Democrat Deborah Ross. That finally started to change a few weeks ago, when the conservative group One Nation began airing $2.5 million worth of positive ads for Burr. And on Thursday, things kicked up another couple of notches with Roll Call’s report that the Senate Leadership Fund, which is close to Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, had reserved $8.1 million in ads. SLF’s campaign will begin Sept. 13 and last through the election.
However, Democratic groups still haven’t aired any ads or booked any airtime here yet. In the past, we worried that national Democrats simply didn’t believe that Ross could win and had decided not to spend here. However, it’s very possible that Team Blue just decided that, as long as the GOP also wasn’t advertising, they’d wait until closer to Election Day to save their resources.
Well, now the GOP has dramatically upped the ante in the Tar Heel State, and Democrats can’t afford to let Burr and his allies control the airwaves if they want to win here. We’ve long pushed for national Democrats to make this race a priority, and we’ll soon find out whether they’re interested in doing so.
But Deborah Ross can’t wait for the cavalry, so please give her $3 today.