RNC Sinks $25M More into Midterms While DNC Calls Early-Voting Surge a 'Good Sign'

With fewer than two weeks until Election Day and many already heading to the polls in early-voting states, the Republican National Committee said this morning that they’re boosting midterm spending by $25 million to bring the campaign-season outlay up to $275 million.

The Democratic National Committee, meanwhile, said Tuesday that early-voting surges are “showing an increase in voter engagement and a good early sign for Democrats.”

Nearly $10 million of the RNC’s cash surge will be going toward digital get-out-the-vote efforts, including $3 million “dedicated to peer-to-peer texting.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee are receiving a $3.5 million cash influx from the RNC.

“We’re increasing our midterm commitment thanks to the support from President Trump and millions of energized Americans who want to ensure Republican majorities can continue to deliver results,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel said in a statement. “Our investment is unprecedented because we know we must do everything in our power to defy history.”

FiveThirtyEight currently rates Democrats’ chance of winning the House at 85.1 percent, and Republicans’ chance of keeping control of the Senate at 81.6 percent.

DNC Chairman Tom Perez told CNN on Tuesday evening that the campaign is in “the blocking and tackling phase” where the party has to focus on “getting that vote out.”

“I never used the term ‘blue wave’ because human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability,” Perez said. “…I’m still very confident that we’re going to take the House and I believe that we’re going to surprise a lot of people in the U.S. Senate as well. And the reason why it’s hard to win 60, 70 seats is because in the vast majority of states, the districts are so heavily gerrymandered.”

“We know when we get a fair shake, like in states like Pennsylvania, where the districts are fair, Democrats are going to do very, very well. But it’s hard to get to 60 or 70 when you have so many states like Ohio and elsewhere where there’s such a heavy gerrymandering,” he added. “But notwithstanding that, people understand that their healthcare is on the ballot. They understand that Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security are on the ballot and frankly our democracy is on the ballot.”

Perez said voters are “sick and tired of the politics of division, and that’s why I continue to have a lot of confidence.”