House Majority PAC To Enter NY 26 Ad War

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The newly-formed House Majority PAC will jump into the hotly-contested special election in New York’s 26th District next week, according to a source familiar with the group’s plans.

The Democratic group will begin airing broadcast and cable television ads in the Western New York district attacking Republican Jane Corwin for her support of Rep. Paul Ryan‘s (R-Wis.) budget plan that would revamp Medicare.

The amount of the buy is not yet known, but it’s the latest signal that Democrats see a definite chance forKathy Hochul to capture the GOP-leaning seat in the May 24 special election between Hochul, Corwin and independent Jack Davis.

It’s one of the first independent expenditures by House Majority PAC, the group that was formed earlier this year by a group of Democratic campaign veterans as a response to free-spending conservative groups, such as American Crossroads, that spent heavily during last year’s midterm elections. The group has previously run radio ads against 10 GOP freshmen also hitting them over the Ryan budget and Medicare.

House Majority PAC is the second major Democratic group to devote resources to the race; the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee made a $250,000 ad buy earlier this week. Republican groups, seeing Corwin’s lead shrink, have the upper hand in the money race to help her so far, spending upwards of $1 million now in independent buys, including $650,000 in ad time that Crossroads has reserved and a $400,000 ad buy from the National Republican Congressional Committee, which they upped from $265,000 just today. UPDATE, 5:10 p.m.:The House Majority PAC has confirmed they will wade into the race. “We will make sure voters in NY-26 are aware of Jane Corwin’s support for a budget that not only ends Medicare as we know it, but also increases the national debt by providing giveaways to millionaires and big oil companies,” Ali Lapp, the group’s executive director said in a statement.

National Journal