GOP super-PAC reserves $8M in ads for NC Senate race

A top Republican super-PAC has reserved more than $8 million in TV ads in North Carolina as Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) faces a tougher challenge than expected.

{mosads}The Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), which has ties to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), will air ads from Sept. 13 until Election Day, according to Roll Call.

The move comes as former state Rep. Deborah Ross (D) has given Burr a strong challenge in the polls and posted good fundraising totals.

The North Carolina race was once viewed as an unlikely pickup for the Democrats, as Burr posted double-digit leads in polls in the winter.

But the race has tightened in recent months as the presidential nominees focus on the Tar Heel State. Republicans are growing concerned about Burr, who still faces low name recognition in the state.

Burr leads by less than three points, according to a RealClearPolitics polling average.

Democrats need to flip five GOP Senate seats — or four if they keep control of the White House — to win back the chamber. The North Carolina race even being close is a win for Democrats, as it forces Republican groups to spend money there instead of other tight Senate races in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and elsewhere. 

“By the time Election Day comes around, North Carolina voters will know more than enough about Deborah Ross’s record to make her unelectable,” SLF spokesman Ian Prior told Roll Call.

Ross spokesman Cole Leiter fired back at the new reservations, saying that “like a typical Washington politician,” Burr is “turning to the same big money donors he’s put first all along.”

“But North Carolina voters won’t be fooled — they know it’s time for a change, and no amount of special interest dark money can bail Richard Burr out,” he told Roll Call.

Burr has also received help from other outside groups including One Nation, a Karl Rove-aligned nonprofit, which earlier this month ran a $1.5 million ad buy for 10 days in the Charlotte and Raleigh areas.

SLF has already poured millions into key Senate races as Republicans seek to hold onto their slim majority. In late June, the group reserved nearly $40 million in fall TV ads in five battleground states.