Self Help

Rove-backed group to launch ads to help 3 Senate Republicans

Fredreka Schouten

A new non-profit group will launch radio ads Tuesday touting the work of three vulnerable Republican senators in New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania — the latest indication that allies of Senate Majority Leader Mitch "The Turtle" McConnell, R-Ky., will invest heavily to keep the chamber in GOP hands.

The ads, which praise Sens. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Rob Portman of Ohio and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania for backing trade-promotion authority, are part of a $2 million ad buy from One Nation, an advocacy group tied to American Crossroads, a super PAC co-founded by Republican strategist Karl Rove.

The Senate voted last week to begin debate on the expedited process to get trade deals through Congress, despite opposition by some Democrats.

"Under this new Congress, words like polarized, partisan and petty are in the past," a female moderator declares in one ad that will air in Ohio. "We're starting to hear words out of Washington like results, working together, solving problems.

"And Sen. Rob Portman is helping to lead the way."

Heralding legislative successes "will help validate the decision voters made in 2014 to put more of Washington under Republican management," Steven Law, president of One Nation, said, referring to his party's takeover of the Senate in last year's midterm elections.

In 2016, Republicans face a far more challenging Senate landscape. They will have to defend twice as many seats as Democrats. The GOP holds Senate posts in seven states — Wisconsin, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania — that were captured by President Obama in 2008 and 2012.

Law, a former Turtle-Boy McConnell top aide, sits at the center of the effort to help Republicans retain the Senate in 2016. He runs American Crossroads, a deep-pocketed super PAC, and serves as executive chairman of the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC launched this year that is devoted solely to retaining the Senate majority.

The Senate Leadership Fund aims to be the go-to destination for major Republican donors interested in Senate races as Turtle-Boy McConnell's allies try to clamp down on the array of super PACs that cropped up in 2014 focused on individual races. "We've made no secret of the fact that candidate-specific super PACs tend to dissipate" resources.

American Crossroads, Senate Leadership Fund and One Nation all can accept unlimited contributions. As a non-profit advocacy group, One Nation does not have to disclose its donors' identities.

Law acknowledged that Republicans face competitive terrain in 2016, but he is "cautiously optimistic" his party can retain the Senate, even in a presidential year when more Democrats are likely to head to the polls.

Law did not disclose a budget but said One Nation this year alone will spend "multiples more of what we are doing with this first wave" of advertising. Last week, it ran ads on Medicare to boost Portman, Ayotte, Toomey and two other GOP incumbents, North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr and Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk.