A leaked memo has laid bare Republican panic that Democrats could snatch three Senate seats that the GOP had considered safely theirs.
The Senate Republicans’ campaign arm is making a late plea for nearly $9 million to defend their nominees in Alaska, Iowa and Ohio—states Donald Trump won by double digits in 2024—according to a memo obtained by Axios, exposing the party’s jitters as the midterm map turns increasingly hostile.
“We need $8.9 million in additional hard dollars to close the media gap and sustain that progress through Election Day,” according to the memo sent out by the National Republican Senatorial Committee on Thursday.
Nearly half of the GOP’s fundraising target is earmarked for Iowa, where Republicans were jolted this week by a bombshell Marist poll that found Democratic Senate candidate Josh Turek with a whopping eight-point lead over the GOP nominee, Rep. Ashley Hinson.
The memo sets a $4.2 million fundraising target for the red state, which Trump carried all three times he was on the ballot. Retiring Sen. Joni Ernst is leaving behind an open Senate seat, Axios reports.
Meanwhile, the NRSC is asking donors for $3.5 million in Ohio, where Sen. Jon Husted is facing former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who leads by four points in RealClearPolling’s average of polls.
The state has been hit hard by Trump’s tariffs and soaring diesel prices tied to the president’s war with Iran, with Iowa and Alaska facing similar pressures.
In Alaska, where former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola is leading Sen. Dan Sullivan by two points in RCP’s polling average, the GOP has set a $1.2 million goal.
The memo encourages donors to give through candidates’ campaigns or joint fundraising committees, which operate under higher contribution limits, according to Axios.
The NRSC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Democrats need to flip just four seats to take control of the Senate next Congress, and momentum has increasingly shifted their way this month.
On Wednesday, the Cook Political Report shifted three Senate race ratings—Georgia, Kansas, and even South Carolina—toward Democrats.
At the same time, a Marist Poll found Democrat James Talarico with a comanding lead over Republican Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate race, 50 percent to 44 percent.
Republicans have all but thrown in the towel in Senate races in Georgia and North Carolina, Axios reports, echoing what insiders told Politico this week.
Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat, led his Republican challenger, Rep. Mike Collins, by 7 points in a survey conducted this month by Republican pollster Trafalgar Group.
Meanwhile, internal GOP polling in North Carolina shows former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper with a double-digit lead over the Republican candidate, Michael Whatley, according to Politico.
