From Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) super PAC press release April 28, 2022:
CLF RESERVES $125 MILLION IN FIRST ROUND AD RESERVATIONS TO WIN THE HOUSE MAJORITY
First Wave Reservations Span 48 Markets As Republicans Push To Win The Majority and Expand The Map
WASHINGTON — Congressional Leadership Fund, the super PAC endorsed by Leader Kevin McCarthy and all of House Republican leadership, today announced its first wave of ad reservations for the 2022 election cycle. CLF’s initial reserves total $125 million in ad time for television and streaming platforms. The buy spans 48 media markets for ads potentially in as many as 46 Congressional Districts from coast to coast. CLF’s first reserves are overwhelmingly on offense: $111 million of the total is booked in Democrat-held seats and just $14 million in Republican-held ones.
CLF’s first round ad reserves are its largest to date and are 3x larger than the first round of ad reservations placed in 2020, when CLF booked $43 million. Additional reservations will be made as the cycle continues to develop.
“There is palpable energy for retiring Speaker Pelosi and winning a House Majority behind Leader Kevin McCarthy, and this is a testament to that. Our reserves are a significant down payment on the firepower we’ll need to win and elect tremendous GOP candidates across the country.
“We’re pressing deep into Democrat territory to elect the largest possible Majority this fall.”
CLF President Dan Conston
.
CLF’s first round ad reservations are as follows:
$15 million in Las Vegas
$8.1 million in Phoenix
$7.3 million in Philadelphia
$4.4 million in New York
Includes $1.9 million for NY-18 and $2.5 million for NJ-07
$6.3 million in Boston
$6.2 million in Los Angeles
Includes $2 million for CA-45, $1.8 million for CA-27, $1.8 million for CA-47 and $600,000 for CA-40
$6.1 million in Raleigh-Durham
$5 million in San Antonio, Includes $1.5 million in TX-15 and $3.5 million for TX-28
$4.9 million in Minneapolis-St. Paul
$4.4 million in Denver
$4.2 million in Washington, DC
$4 million in Detroit
$3.9 million in Seattle-Tacoma
$3.6 million in Fresno-Visalia, Includes $2 million for CA-22 and $1.6 million for CA-13
$3.3 million in Portland, OR
$2.5 million in Kansas City
$2.3 million in Norfolk
$2.2 million in Cleveland
$2.2 million in Grand Rapids
$2.1 million in Pittsburgh
$1.75 million in Hartford
$1.7 million in Lansing
$1.7 million in Tucson
$1.6 million in San Diego
$1.4 million in Tampa
$1.4 million in Portland-Auburn
$1.3 million in Cincinnati
$1.3 million in Omaha
$1.1 million in Albuquerque
$1.1 million in Bangor
$1.1 million in Davenport <<=== For IL-17
$1.1 million in Wilkes Barre
$1 million in Bakersfield
$975,000 in Des Moines
$975,000 in Greenville
$875,000 in Peoria <<=== For IL-17
$785,000 in Flint
$750,000 in Binghamton
$705,000 in Toledo
$680,000 in Harlingen
$645,000 in Albany
$540,000 in El Paso
$495,000 in Rockford <<=== For IL-17
$390,000 in La Crosse-Eau Claire
$375,000 in Laredo
$345,000 in Utica
$333,000 in Wausau
$240,000 in Presque Isle
===============
From the desk of John Lopez: As I’ve highlighted above in the CLF press release, the only Illinois congressional district that is part of the CLF advanced ad buy for the fall campaign is the open IL-17, where presumptive Republican nominee Esther Joy King (R, Rock Island) will face the winner of the crowded Democratic primary.
Clearly, the IL-17 being flipped to red merited nearly $2.5 million in TV ad reservations to support King’s candidacy or against the eventual Democratic nominee. The Quad Cities buy in Davenport can either support Esther Joy King’s candidacy in IL-17, or possibly be used to provide defensive funding to support freshmen Congresswomen Marianette Miller-Meeks (R, IA-01) or Ashley Hinson (R, IA-02).
Given the gist of the press release was the $111 million to go on offense, the Davenport buy likely meant for the Illinois side of the Mississippi River this fall.
Given the Chicagoland TV market was not identified in the initial ad buy, the fall races for IL-06, IL-11 and IL-14 are not seen as top-tier races crucial to flipping control of the U.S. House of Representatives this fall at this point at the end of April.
This is in spite of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) designating the three districts as “targets” and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) designating IL-11 and IL-14 incumbents as “vulnerable”.
Whether the three suburban districts stay off the financial target for flipping depends on who wins the Republican primary (and in IL-06, which incumbent Democrat emerges victorious in June) and are the incumbent Democrats in IL-11 or IL-14 showing any weakness by mid-year.
But all indications is the three suburban districts are playing out like 2020, and there will be no significant outside spending by CLF or other super PACs this fall, which will definitely benefit the Democratic incumbents.
The CLF encapsulated the mainstream media reaction to Thursday’s announcement and can be viewed here.