爱荷华州得梅因-共和党人周二从少数几个美国众议院竞选的战场今年早些时候，民主党人竞相筹集资金，为看似胜算不大的候选人助选。
领先的众议院共和党超级政治行动委员会（super PAC）国会领导基金（Congressional Leadership Fund）取消了从中西部到东海岸的四场比赛的支出，增加了从德克萨斯州到宾夕法尼亚州的其他16场比赛的投资。
与此同时，民主党的众议院竞选委员会正在关注共和党控制的地区的空缺，并希望在下周筹集数百万美元，以推动最新一轮的广告宣传，他们说，这可能至少会增加六个席位。
中期选举最后三周的资金转移表明，共和党人的防守姿态越来越强，他们已经降低了对美国参议院竞选的预期，而民主党人则试图利用这一点唐纳德·特朗普总统的低支持率。
保守派增长俱乐部（conservative Club For Growth）主席大卫·麦金托什（David McIntosh）说，“很多席位都在竞争范围内，只有两个——也许是三个——是共和党可能获得的，”他指出选民对经济的不满，以及共和党对国会无法通过特朗普关于选民登记的拯救法案的不满。“看起来共和党人很弱，所以你会看到热情大幅下降。”
“你现在可以根据人们把钱投在哪里来判断他们在哪里竞争，”斯图·桑德勒（Stu Sandler）说，他是今年众议院和州级选举的共和党策略师。
据两名熟悉该组织计划的共和党竞选官员透露，国会领导基金不再在爱荷华州第一选区的广告上花费资金，三届共和党众议员玛丽安内特·米勒-米克斯正在那里与民主党人克里斯蒂娜·博汉南争夺席位。
这些官员在匿名的情况下分享了私人战略对话。
博汉南第三次竞选米勒-米克斯。上一次，这场比赛仅由799票决定，成为全国第二接近的比赛。这是爱荷华州的一个东部地区，国会对医疗补助的削减与医院服务关闭有关，高柴油价格对农民来说是一个挑战。
同样，官员们表示，该集团不会继续在新泽西州的第七区支出，第二任期的共和党众议员汤姆·基恩正在那里与民主党人丽贝卡·贝内特对抗。基恩因缺席国会四个月而受到审查他对此一直未作解释，直到回国后才透露出精神健康危机。两年前以5．4个百分点获胜的基恩也因支持特朗普的关税和伊朗战争而面临质疑。
这些比赛，以及俄亥俄州辛辛那提地区的一场比赛和密歇根州中东部的一场比赛，已占国会领导基金支出的1330万美元，超过截至10月13日总支出的12%。
该集团正在加强其在一系列地区的支出，特朗普在2024年以微弱优势击败民主党人卡玛拉·哈里斯。
桑德勒说，他的政党需要让那些通常参加总统选举但在中期选举中经常呆在家里的选民投票。
“你不能说他们资源不足，”他说。“共和党的资源处于高位。他们从未在中期选举中获得如此充足的资金。”
随着众议院共和党人的紧缩，民主党国会竞选委员会认为，至少还有十几场比赛可能在打击范围之内。然而，他们需要更多的钱来利用。
该委员会发起了一项1700万美元的筹款活动，截止日期为10月22日，旨在向一度被视为遥不可及的地区投放广告。
“这并不是说我们需要钱来赢得我们一直在争取的218个席位的选区，”该委员会的沟通主任考特尼·赖斯（Courtney Rice）说。“我们在谈论下一个层面。”
一个是俄亥俄州的第10选区，这是代顿地区的一个选区，由连任12届的共和党众议员迈克·特纳代表。民主党人认为特纳是可击败的，尽管这位前代顿市长经久不衰，两年前赢得了18个百分点的胜利。特朗普在2024年以6个百分点的优势赢得了该地区。
根据一项调查，特纳直到9月底才开始做广告，比大多数有竞争力的众议院现任议员都晚，国家共和党国会委员会本周开始在那里投入资金。
如果民主党委员会达到目标，它也将开始在迈阿密地区，密苏里州圣路易斯郊区和阿肯色州小石城地区投入资金。由于最高法院6月份的一项决定，他们将能够以候选人可以获得的较低价格购买广告，从而从这些美元中挤出更多的广告时间。
参议院共和党人正在向内布拉斯加州投入数百万美元，以保护参议员皮特·里基茨（Pete Ricketts），这是他们的支出重点如何从战场州转向捍卫他们曾经预计会轻松占据的席位的最新迹象。
里基茨正面临民主党支持的独立人士丹·奥斯本的挑战。特朗普在2024年以超过20个百分点的优势赢得内布拉斯加州。
与参议院共和党领导层结盟的超级政治行动委员会参议院领导基金周二表示，它支持在该州投资1500万美元。
根据Impact的数据，其他团体也在这场比赛中投入资金，加密货币支持的超级PAC Fairshake发起了一场700万美元的广告活动。
该集团还增加了对俄亥俄州参议员竞选的投资，使其在俄亥俄州的总支出达到4500万美元，以支持共和党参议员乔恩·胡斯德，他与民主党前参议员谢罗德·布朗竞争。
在内布拉斯加州投资之前，参议院领导基金在堪萨斯州和南卡罗来纳州进行了新的支出，特朗普在2024年以两位数的优势赢得了另外两个州。这三人都没有出现在该集团4月份最初的3．42亿美元广告计划中，后来随着共和党人从佐治亚州和北卡罗来纳州撤出，该计划被重新调整，这两个州是他们最初战略的核心。
民主党人也在转移他们的资源。参议院民主党人的主要支出部门周二表示，上周将从佐治亚州撤出广告，民主党参议员乔恩·奥索夫（Jon Ossoff）在佐治亚州的筹款优势明显超过共和党众议员迈克·柯林斯（Mike Collins），而是专注于缅因州、新罕布什尔州、密歇根州、爱荷华州、堪萨斯州、德克萨斯州、阿拉斯加州和俄亥俄州。
投资发生变化之际，两党正在为争夺参议院控制权做出最终支出决定，民主党人指出，他们的候选人和政治环境是共和党资金的潜在抗衡力量。
在周二给其他参议员的一封信中，参议院民主党领袖查克·舒默说，对众议院控制权的争夺“归结为一个决定性的问题。”
“前所未有的共和党资金海啸会击败民主党在候选人、政策和政治气候方面的巨大优势吗？”舒默问道。
Battle lines shift in House races as Republicans retreat from front-line districts
DES MOINES， Iowa --Republicans were retreating Tuesday from a handful ofbattleground U．S． House raceswhile Democrats were racing to raise money to boost candidates who seemed like long shots earlier this year．
The Congressional Leadership Fund， the leading House Republican super PAC， canceled spending in four races from the Midwest to the East Coast and increased its investment in 16 other races from Texas to Pennsylvania．
Meanwhile， Democrats＇ House campaign committee is eyeing openings in Republican-held districts and hoping to raise millions of dollars in the next week to fuel a late round of advertising that they say could net at least a half dozen more seats．
The shifting money in the final three weeks of midterm campaigns points to an increasingly defensive posture by Republicans， who have already trimmed their expectations in U．S． Senate races， and new aggression from Democrats， who are trying to capitalizeon President Donald Trump＇s weak approval ratings．
“A lot of seats are in the competitive range， and only really two are — maybe three — are possible Republican pickups，＂ said David McIntosh， president of the conservative Club For Growth， noting voter dissatisfaction with the economy and Republican dissatisfaction with Congress＇ inability to pass Trump＇s SAVE Act regarding voter registration． ＂It looked like Republicans were weak， and so you’ve seen a lot of drop-off in enthusiasm．”
“You can tell now where people are competing based on where they’re putting the money，” said Stu Sandler， a Republican strategist working on House and statewide races this year．
The Congressional Leadership Fund is no longer spending on advertising in Iowa＇s 1st District， where three-term Republican Rep． Mariannette Miller-Meeks is defending her seat against Democrat Christina Bohannan， according to two Republican campaign officials familiar with the group＇s plans．
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to share private strategy conversations．
Bohannan is running for her third time against Miller-Meeks． Last time， the race was decided by only 799 votes， making it the second-closest in the country． It＇s an eastern Iowa district where congressional cuts to Medicaid have been linked to hospital service closures and high diesel prices have been a challenge for farmers．
Likewise， the officials said the group won＇t keep spending in New Jersey＇s 7th District， where second-term Republican Rep． Tom Kean is facing off against Democrat Rebecca Bennett．Kean has been under scrutiny for his four-month absence from Congress， which he left unexplained until disclosing a mental health crisis upon his return． Kean， who won by 5．4 percentage points two years ago， has also faced questions over his support for Trump’s tariffs and the Iran war．
These races， as well as one in the Cincinnati， Ohio， area and one in east-central Michigan， have accounted for $13．3 million in Congressional Leadership Fund spending， more than 12% of its total through Oct． 13．
The group is reinforcing its spending in a series of districts where Trump beat Democrat Kamala Harris by narrow margins in 2024．
Sandler said his party needs to turn out voters who usually participate in presidential elections but often stay home in the midterms．
“One thing you can’t say is that they’ve been under-resourced，” he said． “Republican resources are at a high． They’ve never been this well-funded in the midterm．”
As House Republicans have retrenched， the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee believes at least a dozen more races could be within striking distance． However， they need more money to take advantage．
The committee launched a $17 million fundraising drive， with a deadline of Oct． 22， to pump advertising onto the air in districts that were once seen as out of reach．
“It’s not that we need the money to win in the districts where we have been running to get to 218 seats，” said Courtney Rice， the committee’s communication director． “We’re talking about the next level．”
One is Ohio＇s 10th， a Dayton-area district represented by 12-term Republican Rep． Mike Turner． Democrats see Turner as beatable despite the former Dayton mayor＇s durability and 18 percentage-point victory two years ago． Trump carried the district by six percentage points in 2024．
Turner didn＇t begin advertising until late September， according to AdImpact， later than most competitive House incumbents， and the National Republican Congressional Committee started spending there this week．
If the Democratic committee reaches its goal， it would also start spending in the Miami area， suburban St． Louis， Missouri and the Little Rock， Arkansas， area． They would be able to buy ads in coordination with the campaigns at the lower rate available to candidates， due to a June Supreme Court decision， squeezing more ad time from those dollars．
Senate Republicans are pouring millions more into Nebraska to protect Sen． Pete Ricketts， the latest sign of how dramatically their spending priorities have shifted from battleground states toward defending seats they once expected to hold comfortably．
Ricketts is facing a challenge from independent Dan Osborn， who is backed by Democrats． Trump won Nebraska by more than 20 percentage points in 2024．
The Senate Leadership Fund， the super PAC aligned with Senate GOP leadership， said Tuesday it was behind a $15 million investment in the state．
Other groups are also pumping money into the race， with the cryptocurrency-backed super PAC Fairshake launching a $7 million advertising campaign， according to AdImpact data．
The group has also increased its investment in Ohio’s Senate race， bringing its total spending there to $45 million in support of Republican Sen． Jon Husted， who is up against Democratic former Sen． Sherrod Brown．
The Nebraska investment follows new spending by the Senate Leadership Fund in Kansas and South Carolina， two other states Trump won by double digits in 2024． All three were absent from the group’s initial $342 million advertising plan in April， which has since been reshaped as Republicans pulled back from Georgia and North Carolina， two states that were central to their original strategy．
Democrats are also shifting their resources． The Senate Democrats’ main spending arm said Tuesday it was pulling its advertising last week from Georgia， where Democratic Sen． Jon Ossoff has built a substantial fundraising advantage over Republican Rep． Mike Collins， and focusing instead on Maine， New Hampshire， Michigan， Iowa， Kansas， Texas， Alaska and Ohio．
The shifting investments come as both parties make their final spending decisions in the battle for Senate control， with Democrats pointing to their candidates and the political environment as potential counterweights to Republican money．
In a letter to fellow senators Tuesday， Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said the battle for control of the chamber “comes down to one defining question．”
“Will the unprecedented tsunami of Republican money defeat the massive Democratic advantage in candidates， policies， and political climate？” Schumer asked．
