Republican groups drop $1.6M more into House races

A pair of Republican-aligned groups are dropping an additional $1.6 million into TV spending on House races, their latest large investment targeting vulnerable House Democrats.

{mosads}The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super-PAC with ties to House GOP leadership, and its sister organization American Action Network are adding major buys to target Reps. Ron Barber (D-Ariz.), Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.), Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) and Pete Gallego (D-Texas). The ad buys were first shared with The Hill.

That brings total spending by the groups to over $16 million for the election cycle. They are spending $1.8 million against Barber, $1.6 million against Gallego, $1.5 million against Bishop and $1.2 million against Kirkpatrick.

Republican outside groups had struggled for months to get their donors excited about getting involved in the 2014 midterms, but the money has come in recent weeks — and they’re using it to go on offense and force Democratic groups to make some hard choices in where to spend.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has had to go into triage mode, pulling out of some races it once deemed as top targets in order to use that money to counter these groups and defend their incumbents.

Republicans are expected to pick up at least a half-dozen House seats this fall, and are aiming to reach double-digit gains.