Republican Senate Leadership Fund pauses ad spending in North Carolina, switches focus to Kansas

The Republican Super Political Action Committee Senate Leadership Fund reportedly decided Friday to suspend its ad spending in North Carolina's Senate race and shift its focus over to Kansas, where GOP Sen. Roger Marshall is facing reelection. 

Sources confirmed the change, which was first reported by Semafor, to NBC News and comes as Republicans face an increasingly tough midterm landscape amid concern over the economy and the war in Iran. 

The move signals that Senate Republicans are moving away from trying to put former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley in the upper chamber as he faces a tough election against former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, and shifting instead to reelect Marshall, who is facing a tough race against Democratic pastor Adam Hamilton. 

One source told Semafor that the move reflects the super PAC's job to ensure Republicans maintain their majority in the Senate.

The Senate Leadership Fund has reserved more than $8 million of airtime in Kansas so far and spent more than $17 million on the race in North Carolina last month, according to AdImpact. 

The PAC is reportedly not planning to spend more than the additional $19 million they have already committed in North Carolina.

Despite the pause in ad spending, both Cooper's campaign and Whatley's have argued the race is still competitive.

“Undecided Voters who break late decide the election in North Carolina and the majority of those Late-Breakers typically go Republican,” Whatley spokesman DJ Griffin said. “We feel confident we have the resources to highlight Career Politician Roy Cooper’s 40 Years of Failures and win in November.”

The PAC is also allegedly concerned about its chances of ousting Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in November but has not paused its campaign funds so far, NBC News also reported.

Other races the PAC is pouring money into ahead of the midterms are Alaska, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio and Texas. 

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.