Sen. Jacky Rosen’s (D-NV) campaign announced a record-breaking ad buy, one day after political experts deemed the Nevada Senate race to be more competitive than previously ranked.
Rosen’s campaign told Axios it plans to spend $14 million on ads that will run from late July through Election Day. According to the campaign, it will be the largest ad buy in Nevada history. The ads will include spots on television and on the radio running in Las Vegas and Reno.
The massive ad buy comes a day after the nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted the race from being “lean Democrat” to a “toss-up” on Wednesday, pointing to President Joe Biden’s lagging popularity in the battleground state and the new electorate that has emerged over the last few years.
A contentious primary is playing out on the Republican side. Retired Army Capt. Sam Brown is the favorite of Senate party leaders, some of whom attended a fundraiser for his bid last year. He was courted to launch his campaign by National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Steve Daines (R-MT), who saw Brown as the most palatable candidate to run in such a pivotal swing state. He faces Jeff Gunter, a former U.S. ambassador to Iceland under former President Donald Trump, in the primary in June.
Nevada has become an increasingly more competitive battleground in recent years. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) won her election during the midterm elections in 2022 by less than a percentage point. Biden won the state by 2 points in 2020, but Trump is leading Biden in polls in the state so far this cycle.
Democratic outside groups also plan to flood the state with ads. The Senate Majority PAC, an independent group associated with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), recently unveiled plans to reserve $36 million in ads starting over the summer. So far, the Senate Leadership Fund, which is the independent group on the Republican side aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), has only unveiled plans to spend advertising dollars in Ohio and Montana.
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Democrats hold a 51-49 majority in the Senate, with the advantage of having Vice President Kamala Harris as a tiebreaker vote if needed. Republicans only need to flip one Senate seat to win the majority if they are able to take back the White House this cycle.
The battlefield for Democrats to defend their slim majority still tilts upward. Twenty Democratic-held Senate seats are up, as are the three held by independents who caucus with the Democrats. Just 10 seats controlled by Republicans will be on the ballot.