Senate Democrats\u2019 top super PAC is pushing into Kansas.<\/p>\n

The Chuck Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC is launching a $5 million statewide television ad blitz starting Saturday through Election Day \u2014 the latest sign that Democrats believe the Senate map is shifting onto red turf.<\/p>\n

SMP had signaled in recent days it could get involved in the race, telling Blue Light News late last month it was \u201cactively thinking\u201d<\/a> about whether to wade into the state where Democrats haven\u2019t won a Senate seat in nearly a century but where Adam Hamilton narrowly leads GOP Sen. Roger Marshall in recent polls<\/a>. Internal SMP polling that found an increasingly competitive race factored into the group\u2019s decision to spend. It will also run digital ads.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe gap is closing in Kansas,\u201d SMP spokesperson Lauren French said in a statement. \u201cWe are committed to ensuring families understand Marshall’s real record of making health care and basic goods more expensive for working Kansans.”<\/p>\n

Republicans are scrambling to shore up Marshall<\/a>. Senate Leadership Fund, a top GOP super PAC aligned with Republican leadership, has booked over $10 million in ads through Election Day in the state, per ad tracking firm AdImpact.<\/p>\n

SMP\u2019s first ad<\/a> attacks Marshall for joining Senate Republicans in voting to table a Democratic-led amendment<\/a> last year to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. The Senate later approved legislation to release the files by unanimous consent<\/a>. It\u2019s the latest in a slate of ads from Democrats<\/a> hitting their Republican rivals over the late, disgraced financier and convicted sex offender. Marshall\u2019s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Senate Democrats\u2019 plunge into the state comes as the midterm battle map is undergoing a major realignment. Georgia and North Carolina \u2014 primed to be two of the cycle\u2019s premiere battlegrounds \u2014 are tilting left to the point where national Republicans are retracting spending<\/a> in both states and Democrats are starting to follow suit, freeing funds on both sides to shift elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Republicans are racing to reinforce incumbents across what was once safer red turf. SLF has also pledged $5 million<\/a> to bolster Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina.<\/p>\n

Democrats, meanwhile, are starting to spend more in red states. SMP has dropped over $2 million on digital ads in Texas. Schumer, the Senate minority leader, has included Kansas and Mississippi in his pitches to donors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"