2 years ago
National Republicans appear to be dropping millions of dollars in New Hampshire’s Senate primary, a sign that the party is intervening in a race to prevent a far-right candidate from becoming the nominee.
White Mountain PAC, a super PAC filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission, has purchased $2.6 million of television ad time starting Thursday and running through the state’s Sept. 13 primary, according to AdImpact.
Two people with knowledge of the ad buy told POLITICO that the spending is in support of Chuck Morse, the New Hampshire state Senate president who is running a distant second in public polling behind Don Bolduc, an Army brigadier general who is further to the right and has closely embraced former President Donald Trump’s false stolen election conspiracies. Bolduc, who lost a 2020 Senate primary, has also come under fire for recent comments disparaging federal law enforcement and calling for the repeal of the 17th Amendment, which allows citizens to elect U.S. senators directly.
According to AdImpact, the bulk of the ad time was purchased for Boston, but ads will also run in Portland and Burlington. Morse’s campaign has previously purchased ad time in Manchester.
Les Williamson, a longtime Republican finance staffer and past finance director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is listed as the new super PAC’s treasurer.
The last-minute ad buy comes just a week and a half before New Hampshire’s Republican primary, the result of which will determine who will appear on the ballot against Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan.
The NRSC has already reserved fall ad time in the state, though officials with the committee have privately expressed concern about the GOP’s likelihood of success there with Bolduc on the ballot.
Williamson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, did not immediately respond to a request for comment either.
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