NC contest could be most expensive US Senate race in 2014

by Renee Schoof, Under the Dome, December 16, 2013.

North Carolina could have the most expensive Senate race in the nation in 2014, Roll Call said in a report Monday on the key races Republicans need to win a Senate majority.

Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan is fighting for a second term next year in what’s expected to be a close – and expensive – race.

Now, early in the election cycle, North Carolina has the biggest amount of spending from outside groups.

Republicans have outspent Democrats in North Carolina $5.7 million to $2.6 million, Roll Call reported, citing media buying figures. That includes about $4 million in ads from Americans for Prosperity, the conservative group funded by David and Charles Koch of Koch Industries, and about $750,000 from the Senate Majority PAC.

Roll Call said that the numbers were based on information provided by media consultants in both parties as of Dec. 10. Not all of the spending was the type that has to be filed with the Federal Election Commission, so exact figures were not available, the Capitol Hill political newspaper said.

Other Senate re-election races that have topped $2 million in spending by outside groups this yearly are those of Sens. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the Senate minority leader, Roll Call reported. The spending discrepancy between the parties is smaller in those states compared with North Carolina.

The paper said one reason for the large overall spending in North Carolina is that the state has some of the largest and most expensive media markets of any of the key Senate races.

Republicans need a net gain of six seats next year to gain the Senate majority.