Sen. Jacky Rosen announced Thursday she was placing a $14 million ad buy that will run from July through the November election.
The Nevada Democrat’s campaign said the eye-popping figure is an all-time high for the Silver State and comes a day after election forecasters at Cook Political Report changed the race from “lean Democrat” to “toss-up.”
“While her extreme Republican opponents are busy trying to out-MAGA each other, Jacky Rosen is reaching Nevada voters for the general election,” said Rosen Campaign Manager Stewart Boss.
Her record-setting spending for TV and radio will be buoyed by another $36 million from Senate Majority PAC, according to a Politico report. The PAC is aligned with Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat.
The figures foreshadow what could be one of the most expensive Senate races in the country and Democrats’ fears about losing it to Republicans. Nevada is one of several swing states that Democrats must successfully defend to maintain their one-seat chamber majority.
“She’s going to need it,” Mike Berg, a spokesperson for the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, said of Ms. Rosen’s ad buy. “The Nevada Senate race was moved to toss-up by the Cook Political Report yesterday because polls have consistently shown that, despite her incumbency advantage, Jacky Rosen is polling in the high thirties and low forties. That’s a dangerous spot.”
Although Nevada has gone blue for president since 2008, statewide races have been nail-biters. Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto bested Republican challenger Adam Laxalt in 2022 by 0.8%.
Ms. Rosen is most likely to face off in the general election against Republican front-runner Sam Brown, a former U.S. Army captain backed by the party’s campaign arm, the National Republican Senate Committee. The GOP primary is June 11 and also includes former state Rep. Jim Marchant, former ambassador to Iceland Jeffrey Gunter and 2022 lieutenant governor candidate Tony Grady.
“Jacky Rosen is spending more on ad reservations than on border protections,” Mr. Brown said.