Senate Democrats pour early money into nine states to safeguard their majority


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In a sign of how high the stakes are for next year’s midterms, the Senate Democratic campaign arm is making its largest-ever early investment in retaining the party’s razor-thin majority.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is pouring some $30 million into a field organizing program called Defend the Majority that will be focused on nine states, according to NBC News.

Those states include Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. None of those states are exactly a surprise, but it does make explicit Democrats’ focus on replacing GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida with Democratic Rep. Val Demings. 

Democrats will be playing offense in three states with open seats where Republican Senators are retiring—North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. No one, not even GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, knows who Democrats will be taking on in the Badger State since Johnson has not made his plans clear. And Democrats will be defending Democratic incumbents in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and New Hampshire. The DSCC says more states could be added to the list as needed. 

“The stakes in this election have never been higher: If Republicans take the Senate they’ll take our country backwards, and hard working Americans will pay the price,” DSCC Chair Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan said in a statement to NBC. “The midterm election will be a fight for the future of our country, and we look forward to joining with organizers, voters and communities across the country to win Senate races and defend the Democratic Senate majority Americans are counting on.”