House Democrats reserve another round of TV ads, put aside up to $49 million for fall campaign

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House Dems prep to put up to $49M toward TV ads

WASHINGTON — Democrats reserved another wave of television advertising time on Tuesday to defend seats served by fellow lawmakers who were retiring, seeking Senate seats or among the most unlikely freshmen to win re-election.

If officials place the ads they reserved, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is poised to spend some $49 million during the final weeks of November’s midterm elections, according to advertising plans reviewed Tuesday. The reservations bring the total of House districts party strategists are willing to publicly discuss to 60, including several served by Republicans who are either retiring or are seen as exceptionally vulnerable.

For instance, Democrats reserved advertising time in Hawaii to challenge Republican Rep. Charles Djou, who won a special election to represent President Barack Obama’s childhood U.S. House district. Similarly, Republican Rep. Mike Castle of Delaware is running for the Senate seat vacated by Vice President Joe Biden’s election and Republican Rep. Mark Kirk is seeking Obama’s former Senate seat in Illinois.

The district of Rep. Joe Sestak, who won the upset nomination for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, also won air time reservations.

In all, Democrats are finalizing the first round of advertising reservations that offer an early blueprint — or head-fake — for how they will approach their fight to keep a majority of the House. Some of the seats are in play, such as Rep. Brad Ellsworth’s district in Indiana. Ellsworth, a two-term Democrat, is seeking the Senate seat and could be replaced by Democratic state Rep. Trent Van Haaften; that southwest Indiana district earned an ad reservation.

Others, though, are less certain. Rep. David Obey’s announcement he would retire from his powerful Appropriations Committee chairmanship left Democrats scrambling in that Wisconsin district. Rep. Bart Stupak’s retirement in Michigan similarly left Democrats looking for a candidate to replace the lawmaker who was first elected in 1992.

There is no cost for political committees to reserve the air time. By reserving the time early, political committees can buy the time at discounted prices and ensure that, should they need it, they have a store of 30- and 60-second spots. If during the next three months the races appear heading toward a blowout, the political committees can shift those ad dollars elsewhere.