Republicans have a massive campaign cash advantage going into the final stretch before Election Day, but a new Blue Light News poll shows they aren\u2019t yet capturing voters\u2019 attention.<\/p>\n

More than 70% of poll respondents who had seen ads said they\u2019d either seen more spots in support of Democrats or an equal amount between the parties over the past week \u2014 including ads on television, social media, or any other platform. Only 24% said they\u2019d seen more ads for Republicans.<\/p>\n

The numbers are striking considering Republican-aligned groups had triple the amount of cash<\/a> on hand compared to their Democratic rivals going into the final months of the campaign. That figure includes the $400 million war chest that President Donald Trump\u2019s MAGA Inc. super PAC reported over the summer, for which Dems have no equivalent.<\/p>\n

Republicans have been racing to saturate key battlegrounds \u2014 and even some deep-red districts and states<\/a> \u2014 with GOP messages in the final weeks before the midterms to counterbalance the favorable political environment for Democrats.<\/p>\n

One reason GOP ad dollars could be getting less bang for their buck may lie in ad rates: direct campaign accounts from prolific individual fundraisers \u2014 Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff or Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, for example \u2014 can buy ads at cheaper rates.<\/p>\n

Timing may be another reason: Trump\u2019s super PAC waited until recent weeks<\/a> to start buying ads through affiliate groups, when rates were already high close to the election.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s competition that drives [rates] up to these ridiculous amounts, and then when super PACs come in late with these reservations, it\u2019s even more than a two times disadvantage,\u201d Jeff Burton, GOP campaign strategist and president of Maven Advocacy Partners said in an interview.<\/p>\n

Burton said Republican candidates will need to rethink spending strategies to catch voters\u2019 attention in the final stretch. Still, having a cash advantage might only take some so far, he said, citing the massive outspending Michigan\u2019s Abdul El-Sayed and Texas\u2019 Ken Paxton overcame in their respective primaries.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you\u2019ll see a lot of these campaigns diversifying, paying for grassroots, paying for different mediums to try to reach voters,\u201d Burton said.<\/p>\n

The poll was conducted by surveying U.S. adults online between Oct. 3-5 with PF Global.<\/p>\n

What else we\u2019re watching:\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u2014 FIRST IN IC:\u00a0DEMS WANT A GOP APOLOGY TO JACK SMITH \u2014\u00a0<\/b>Senate Judiciary Democrats are asking chair Chuck Grassley to issue an apology to former special<\/a> counsel Jack Smith on behalf of GOP committee members and Sen. Eric Schmitt. A letter from committee Democrats to Republicans, obtained exclusively by Blue Light News also demands Grassley turn over the underlying records Schmitt used last month to levy false allegations against Smith of secretly attending an NBA game in Atlanta to conspire with local prosecutors about convicting Trump.
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\n \u2014 HILL LOBBIES FOR UKRAINIANS IN U.S. \u2014<\/b> Lawmakers afraid the Trump administration will cancel protections for Ukrainian seeking refuge in the U.S. want the president to consider another option: Do nothing<\/a>. The administration has until Oct. 19 to renew or cancel temporary protected status for more than 100,000 Ukrainians in the U.S. who fled the war still ravaging their country. While a number of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are hoping Trump will renew the permission, some also support a backup option \u2014 letting the status expire without formally canceling it, triggering an automatic six-month extension.<\/p>\n

Chris Marquette, Eric Bazail-Eimil<\/i> and Andrew Howard contributed to this report.<\/i>
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