Conservative group ramps up spending in key Senate race

by Jordain Carney - 10/24/16 4:27 PM ET

The Club for Growth is stepping up its spending in Pennsylvania as GOP Sen. Pat Toomey remains locked in a tight race two weeks before the election.

Club for the Growth Action, the group’s political arm, announced Monday that it would spend an additional $1.9 million in TV ads in the battleground state.

{mosads}David McIntosh, the super PAC’s president, said voters “should know the truth about Katie McGinty,” referring to Toomey’s Democratic challenger.

“Former lobbyist Katie McGinty has a long history of ethics rebukes and corrupt self-dealing at the expense of taxpayers,” he said in a statement. “She also supported the largest tax hike in Pennsylvania’s history, and wants to get to Washington so she can raise taxes on the American people.”

Club for Growth Action had spent a total of more than $3.3 million on the Pennsylvania race, which is expected to help decide which party will control the Senate next year. The group has largely focused its effort on negative attacks against McGinty.

One ad that is currently on the air in Pennsylvania questions the Democratic Senate hopeful’s ethics, and a separate video from last month hit McGinty over taxes.

More than $90 million in outside group money has flooded Pennsylvania as Toomey and McGinty remain locked in a tight race, according to Open Secrets.

The GOP senator is leading in the polls by less than 2 percentage points on average, according to RealClearPolitics.

Republicans are defending 24 Senate seats next month. Democrats need to pick up five, or four if they also retain the White House, to regain the majority.

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