WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Republicans are growing increasingly grim about their chances in November, with aligned groups pumping money into reliably red states and candidates scrambling to distance themselves from unpopular White House policies.<\/p>\n
From Texas to Ohio and Alaska to Iowa, campaigns are grappling with a fed-up electorate that is sour on the president and angry over soaring fuel prices<\/a> driven by an unpopular war<\/a>. While Republicans are flush with unprecedented cash that could move the needle in some races, overall the mood is glum heading into the election\u2019s final stretch as campaigns try to counter palpable Democratic enthusiasm to maintain their narrow lead in the House and Senate this November.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody is tired. You see the poll numbers. Everybody is cranky about gas prices,\u201d said Jeanette Hoffman, a Republican strategist from New Jersey. \u201cThe party in power is playing defense. This is a referendum on the incumbents.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump is trying to protect Republicans with cash<\/p>\n After mounting pressure from endangered candidates in battleground states, groups affiliated with President Donald Trump finally began unleashing their stockpile of campaign cash earlier this month, joining with Republican committees that have amassed a record fortune that dramatically eclipses their Democratic counterparts.<\/p>\n \u201cRepublicans have air superiority. House Democrats are scrambling to catch up with the very limited resources they have,\u201d said Mike Marinella, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee.<\/p>\n But the spending underscores the extent to which Republicans are playing defense.<\/p>\n Three Trump-aligned groups \u2014 MAGA Inc., No Going Back PAC and Safety and Affordability PAC \u2014 have spent more than $163 million on advertising and air time since Sept. 1. Nearly 40% of that money \u2014 more than $63 million \u2014 has been spent in states and districts where Trump won by 10 percentage points or more in the 2024 election, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from AdImpact, which tracks media spending and ad buys.<\/p>\n That includes 12 House districts and three states with major Senate races.<\/p>\n In Texas, Republicans have spent nearly $107 million on ads and reservations since the beginning of the month trying to bolster scandal-plagued attorney general Ken Paxton<\/a> in his Texas Senate race against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico. The spending, which is for ads through Election Day, is nearly four times as much as Democrats in a state Trump won by nearly 14 points.<\/p>\n Further north in Ohio, Republican spending to defend Sen. Jon Husted has exceeded $152 million, compared to $90 million on behalf of Democratic nominee Sherrod Brown, according to AdImpact.<\/p>\n Terry Casey, an Ohio Republican strategist, said both Republicans and Democrats are \u201ckind of sitting on pins and needles because of the national and economic circumstances.\u201d The outcome, he said, would depend on whether Democrats can turn out voters.<\/p>\n Democrats are competing in red states<\/p>\n States that Trump won by wide margins \u2014 like Texas, Iowa, Ohio and Alaska \u2014 have become some of the most competitive battlegrounds in the midterms.<\/p>\n The White House is even investing time in states that haven\u2019t been considered competitive for years. Vice President JD Vance recently traveled to Kansas to campaign for Sen. Roger Marshall, who is facing a challenge from Democratic nominee Adam Hamilton.<\/p>\n The founder of the nation\u2019s largest United Methodist church, Hamilton received a rousing welcome from scores of people who crammed into a Topeka coffee shop to see him Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cIn all my 50, 60 years in politics, I\u2019ve never seen a candidate that quite has the momentum going,\u201d said Jim Ploger, an 82-year-old longtime Democratic activist from Topeka who believes Hamilton gives the party \u201cthe best chance we\u2019ve ever had\u201d to win a Senate seat.<\/p>\n Vance has also been to Iowa, Ohio, Maine and North Carolina to bolster Republican candidates, while Trump is also hitting the road. The week after the party\u2019s unusual midterm convention in Dallas, he traveled to North Carolina to hold a rally with Michael Whatley, his former national party chairman. Republicans are increasingly concerned that he could fall short in his Senate race against Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper.<\/a><\/p>\n There are more concerns about Georgia, where Rep. Mike Collins is trying to unseat Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff. Although Ossoff began the cycle as Republicans\u2019 top target, Collins has endured weeks of negative headlines about a House ethics investigation and his son-in-law\u2019s white nationalist views.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone\u2019s expecting Collins to win,\u201d said Tim Waters, chairman of the Peach County Republican Party. \u201cDo I like that? No, I don\u2019t like that. But it\u2019s just the facts.\u201d<\/p>\n In Texas, officials are hoping a huge influx of last-minute cash will help save Paxton. Sen. John Cornyn, who lost his primary to Paxton after Trump turned on him earlier this year, isn\u2019t so confident.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s going to be very rough, lots of headwinds,\u201d he said. \u201cEven in places like Texas, which are pretty red, we\u2019ve got flawed candidates who I think are going to have a hard time.\u201d<\/p>\n Republican National Committee spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre said the party is focused on turnout and is well aware of the historic trend in which the party in control typically loses seats in the midterm.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have money to spend and we\u2019re not taking anything for granted this cycle,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is very high stakes, and it\u2019s unfortunate that other people feel glum and down. But we\u2019re doing everything we can to protect and expand our majorities so we\u2019re full steam ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n Party officials are more bullish on races in Maine and New Hampshire, where Democrat Kamala Harris won in 2024, and remain optimistic about Michigan, where Trump won by less than two points and where former Rep. Mike Rogers faces progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed<\/a>.<\/p>\n Some Republicans call for an end to the war<\/p>\n Some Republicans are taking steps to distance themselves from Trump even as he urges his supporters to vote like he is on the ballot.<\/p>\n Rep. Tom Tiffany and Rep. John James, the party\u2019s nominees for governor in Wisconsin and Michigan, both joined calls for an end<\/a> to the war in Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cWar is terrible, and no one likes war,\u201d James told reporters.<\/p>\n Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate nominee in Michigan, released an ad<\/a> in which he also called for ending the war. Standing in a grocery store, he bemoaned high prices and said the government should suspend gas taxes and stop diesel exports.<\/p>\n \u201cThe war with Iran needs to end and end quickly,\u201d Rogers said. \u201dMichigan families can\u2019t afford to wait.\u201d<\/p>\n In Iowa, where Republicans are trying to hold onto the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Joni Ernst, Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is locked in a tight race against Democrat Josh Turek, voiced the same frustrations.<\/p>\n \u201cIowans are being squeezed and shouldn\u2019t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran\u201d she wrote on social media<\/a>. \u201cThese actions to lower costs are needed ASAP, and the war needs to be brought to a successful and immediate end.\u201d<\/p>\n