House Majority PAC Dives in Early Ahead of 2014

By Lauren Fox

Democrats are positioning themselves for an all-out airwaves assault this fall to combat what is expected to be the influence of high-rolling outside GOP groups. The Democratic outside group House Majority PAC has reserved roughly $6.5 million in ad slots in two dozen House races nationwide.

The announcement comes as Democrats confront a congressional map of entrenched candidates and a number of swing districts that’s been shrinking over the years. It also reveals that much of House Majority PAC’s resources will be dedicated to protect incumbent Democrats like Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Texas, and Rep. Joe Garcia, D-Fla., just to name a few. The House Majority PAC also will target six incumbent Republicans, including Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., and Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y.

In order to win back the House of Representatives, Democrats will need a net gain of 17 seats, a goal that many within the Democratic Party acknowledge is a tall order. What is significant about the ad buy is not only its volume, but the time of year in which it’s occurred. In 2012, the super PAC waited until July to reserve time on the airwaves. That initial buy, however, was for more than $19 million.

“By placing these reservations early, we will make our dollars go further and ensure we have the air time to effectively fight back against the flood of Koch brothers’ dollars,” Alixandria Lapp, executive director of House Majority PAC, said in a statement. “We are making wise investments in those districts where we expect we will need to counter negative attacks in the final weeks of the campaign.”

The group said it has raised more than $12.7 million for the cycle so far, and that it plans to make additional investments later.

Here’s the list of which candidates House Majority PAC is looking to target or protect with the buy, and how much the group is spending:

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