There are lots of reasons for Republicans to be freaked out about the results in the PA-18 special election Tuesday. I mean, they must defend ONE HUNDRED NINETEEN Republican-held seats bluer than that one.
But it’s even worse than that. Because it was the only election that Tuesday, Republicans poured their heart, soul and wallets into that race. Not only did popular-vote loser Donald Trump campaign, but just as importantly, Republicans sunk $11.2 MILLION into the race, desperate to avoid an embarrassing loss in a district that won’t even exist next Congress. (For their part, Democrats spent $4.8 million, less than half.)
Come November, there isn’t enough time for Trump to campaign in all those 119 potentially in-play seats, rallying the deplorables to the polls. What’s worse, if they were to invest the same amount of money in all those seats as they did in PA-18, it would cost them a cool $1.33 BILLION. That’s with a “b.”
For context, the National Republican Congressional Committee, which raises money for House races, raised $170 million in 2016, and is at $95 million this cycle. The RNC only has $41 million on hand, since all their money is going into Trump Org coffers.
Even the Kochs won’t make up that shortfall.