With campaign season here, politicians are turning up the volume on campaign rhetoric. To cut through the noise, we’ve launched Campaign Context, a series providing clarity on the messages you’re hearing from candidates on the campaign trail. We’re digging past the politics and into the facts to provide you with the transparent, spin-free information you need to make informed decisions.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — By this point, you’ve likely seen a lot of political ads from both sides of the U.S. Senate race in Texas, and you’ll likely see many, many more between now and Election Day.
As first reported by NBC News, Democratic Rep. Colin Allred’s campaign and his supporters have spent a combined total of more than $57 million on ads since Labor Day. $44 million came from the Allred campaign itself, according to AdImpact, a firm that tracks advertising spending.
And in the final push, Allred is getting boost from the Senate Majority PAC — the Democratic party’s super PAC for senate races. NBC reported the PAC will spend $5 million on TV ads in Houston, San Antonio, and Allred’s hometown of Dallas in the remaining days of the campaign.
On the GOP side, AdImpact reported Republicans dropped about $47.5 million on ads on behalf of Republican Sen. Ted Cruz since Labor Day, with the Cruz Campaign putting up about $17 million of that. $18.5 million came from a super PAC called the Truth and Courage PAC.
Truth and Courage PAC is not the Republican party’s senate super PAC. That would be the Senate Leadership Fund.
Cruz has expressed frustration that party leadership hasn’t sent super PAC money his way. Earlier this month, KXAN’s partners at the Hill reported the senator told a conservative talk show host that he feels Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (with whom Cruz has butted heads) is using money to “punish those who dare stand up to him.”