Donald Trump’s political groups have spent nearly 277 million dollars supporting Republicans in the final stretch of the US midterm elections, marking an unprecedented outlay by a sitting president and leaving the party with significant sums still available before November 3.
MAGA Inc, the president’s flagship super PAC, reported spending almost 277 million dollars since the beginning of September in new federal campaign finance filings.
The spending included 200 million dollars transferred to No Going Back PAC Inc and a further 25 million dollars sent to Safety & Affordability PAC Inc. Both affiliated groups have been investing heavily in advertising.
Corry Bliss, a Republican Senate and House campaign strategist, said: “It’s more than any president has ever spent, by far, on the midterms.”
Trump has faced pressure to support Republican candidates as the party attempts to defend its narrow majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Republicans are also contending with low approval ratings and voter frustration over persistently high costs and the unpopular war with Iran.
The president has also helped defeat several long-serving Republican incumbents, adding to the difficulties facing the party in an election in which the governing party would usually be expected to lose seats.
Republicans nevertheless hold a substantial financial advantage, aided by wealthy backers including Elon Musk. Trump-linked groups have so far spent more than 256 million dollars on advertising, according to AdImpact, which tracks media spending and reservations.
Tens of millions of dollars have been spent in Texas in support of Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, who is running against Democrat James Talarico. Musk has also invested heavily in the state, prompting Talarico to accuse him of trying to buy the seat.
MAGA Inc had more than 164 million dollars in cash on hand as of October 14. It has continued to raise large sums from billionaire donors including businesswoman Diane Hendricks, Blackstone chief executive Stephen A Schwarzman and casino magnate Steve Wynn.
However, the decision to begin advertising late in the election cycle has reduced the value of that spending. With less airtime available, the groups are paying substantially higher rates, in some cases more than five times what they would have paid had they acted earlier.
Trump said in a social media post on Tuesday that he planned to spend “over 400 Million Dollars by Election Day”. He said 300 million dollars had already been spent on advertising, voter contact, rallies, tele-rallies, get-out-the-vote operations and efforts to prevent cheating.
