Trump PAC Spends More Defending Texas House Seat Than Any Race This Cycle
America First Action has spent $2.6 million to help longtime GOP Rep. Pete Sessions keep his seat
The top super PAC aligned with President Donald Trump is releasing another ad Tuesday in Texas’ 32nd District, where longtime GOP Rep. Pete Sessions is facing arguably his toughest test for re-election yet against Democrat Colin Allred.
America First Action, the super PAC promoting candidates who support the president’s agenda, has sunk $2.6 million into defending Sessions’ seat. That’s the most the PAC has spent on any race this cycle.
That investment includes airtime for the ad that will hit Dallas-area airwaves Tuesday and will run through the rest of October.
The PAC has invested nearly $20 million overall in 11 House races where Republican candidates are mostly on defense, and four Senate races — Missouri, Indiana, Montana, and North Dakota — where Republicans are on offense.
The ad hits Allred for supporting a health care plan that would create a public option for non-senior citizens similar to Medicare.
Republicans appear concerned that Sessions’ seat will flip if the travels of the president’s inner circle are any indicator.
Vice President Mike Pence stumped for Sessions in the district last week.
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s oldest and most politically active son, is making a trip down to the Dallas suburbs to host an Oct. 18 fundraiser for Sessions with tickets ranging from $2,700 to $10,000, CNBC reported.
America First Action had already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars for airtime for a previous attack ad against Allred in the district.
Republicans aren’t the only ones going on the attack, though.
Allred’s campaign released an advertisement of its own criticizing Sessions for supporting a health care plan that Allred has said would have stripped away protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
Sessions rejected that characterization of the House GOP’s proposed health care act, which was shot down in the Senate by a one-vote margin last year.
A New York Times/Sienna College poll from late September showed Sessions with a one-point lead over Allred, well within the study’s margin of error.
Hillary Clinton carried the district by 2 points over Trump in 2016, a figure Democrats hope they can capitalize on to flip the seat on Nov. 6.
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the race a Tossup.
