A major Democratic Senate super PAC is trimming its advertising in North Carolina, days after Republicans made a much larger retreat from the state’s Senate race.
WinSenate, an affiliated super PAC of the Senate Majority PAC, has removed about $1.1 million in reservations while keeping $18.8 million booked through Election Day, according to the tracking firm AdImpact.
The decision comes as recent public polling has consistently shown former Gov. Roy Cooper ahead of Republican Michael Whatley.
Democrats’ pullback from North Carolina follows a much larger Republican retreat, with the Senate Leadership Fund, the main super PAC supporting Republican Senate candidates, scrapping about $18 million in planned North Carolina advertising on Friday.
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The sum represents a significant pullback for the group, which had already spent about $32 million there.
Instead, the group is shifting its money elsewhere. Axios reported Tuesday that the Senate Leadership Fund is putting $5 million into South Carolina, and spending nearly $8.2 million in Kansas to support Republican Sen. Roger Marshall against Democrat Adam Hamilton.
Other Republican groups have also canceled North Carolina reservations, leaving Whatley with less outside support in the final stretch of the race.
WinSenate has been one of the biggest Democratic outside spenders in Senate races this year. The group has run ads in North Carolina as well as Ohio, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire and other states.
North Carolina remains one of the Democratic Party’s biggest investments. Senate Majority PAC initially announced $31.4 million in North Carolina television reservations in May and added another $11 million in July, bringing its announced television investment in the state above $42 million. It has also spent on digital advertising.
Cooper and Whatley are competing to replace Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who is retiring, in the Nov. 3 election.
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