Upton survives outside money blitz

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) staved off a loss against his Democratic challenger in a race that saw a flood of outside money in the closing weeks. 

Multiple local news outlets called the race for Upton in his race against Paul Clements, a political science professor at Western Michigan University. 

{mosads}“Tomorrow, we will continue our important, bipartisan work toward finding faster cures and better treatments for diseases, growing our economy, and building the architecture of abundance to keep energy prices affordable,” Upton said in a statement on Tuesday evening.

Michigan’s 6th District ran largely under the radar this cycle; the 14-term incumbent regularly cruises to victory with 60 percent to 70 percent of the vote, going back to 1986. His tightest margin — 54 percent — came just two years ago.  

He out-raised Clements by a little more than 4-to-1 this cycle. 

But MayDay Pac, an outside group that has received large donations from the technology industry, announced last month it would spend $2 million in the district. Clements’s campaign released polling last week that showed him trailing by only 4 points.  

MayDay Pac, which aims to elect lawmakers focused on campaign finance reform, launched a series of attack ads against Upton, accusing him of being beholden to the drug, insurance and oil industries.

Upton has blasted the outside group, claiming he talked to some of its donors who said they were “taken for a ride.” And Upton’s office reportedly reached out to a lobbyist in the technology industry to question why the chairman was being targeted. 

In the last few weeks, a series of separate outside groups have come to Upton’s aid — including the American Future Fund, Defending Main Street and others. They have pumped in about $600,000 to help fend off the attacks.