Republicans Pull The Plug On 2 Swing States As GOP’s Midterm Prospects Become Increasingly Grim

Republican political action committees (PACs) and the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) scaled back their time and resources in North Carolina and Georgia while pouring large sums of money into keeping red seats just weeks before the midterm elections.

Republican committees and PACs spent unprecedented amounts of money in red states and districts while polling results shifted against Republican candidates. These PACs pulled support away from North Carolina and Georgia, where Republican Georgia Rep. Mike Collins and Republican North Carolina Senate nominee Michael Whatley face tight races, according to Punchbowl News.

Democratic Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff led Collins by an average of eight points, and former Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper led by nine points, according to RealClearPolling.

The Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), the main GOP super PAC, paused its ad spending in North Carolina Friday after spending $30 million on the Senate race, Semafor first reported. The super PAC was launching a seven-figure ad campaign in Kansas, a traditionally red state where Republican Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall faces tough competition against Democratic Kansas Senate nominee Adam Hamilton.

Kansas has not had a Democratic senator since 1939. Marshall became embroiled in controversy after he sued 700 patients for debts, leading to 81 arrests, according to The New York Times.

“SLF’s job is to maintain the majority and this move reflects the most effective and efficient use of resources to do exactly that,” a spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for Whatley’s campaign remained confident the campaign had the resources to defeat Cooper. The campaign did not clarify if any other group or PAC would pick up the slack to help Whatley win.

“Roy Cooper recently said about federal elections in North Carolina, ‘Democrats are often ahead until they are not,'” spokesperson DJ Griffin told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Undecided Voters who break late decide the election in North Carolina and the majority of those Late-Breakers typically go Republican. We feel confident we have the resources to highlight Career Politician Roy Cooper’s 40 Years of Failures and win in November.”

Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis announced he would not seek reelection in June 2025 after President Donald Trump threatened to back a primary challenger over the senator’s vote against the One Big Beautiful Bill. Trump endorsed Whatley early in the cycle after he chaired the Republican National Committee alongside his daughter-in-law, former co-chair Lara Trump, during Trump’s winning 2024 presidential campaign.