Chamber Starting Early Hill Ad Blitz

February 9, 2012

Wall Street Journal

By BRODY MULLINS

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is launching a $10 million campaign Thursday to support the election of 20 mostly Republican congressional candidates, a sign that it isn't only the presidential race that could see record spending this year.

The U.S.'s biggest business lobby plans to run ads in 12 House and eight Senate races as part of an effort referred to internally as "Advance and Protect." The goal is to help Republicans win a majority of seats in the Senate while protecting the GOP majority in the House.

Most of the Senate races targeted by the Chamber are those Republicans hope will bring them the four seats needed to win control, including in Wisconsin and Missouri where Republicans haven't even picked a candidate. The ads in those states, which criticize Rep. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, are designed to weaken the Democratic candidate.

"We don't want to leave any seats on the table like we did in the last election," said Scott Reed, one of the Chamber's advertising strategists.

The Chamber is supporting Rep. Jim Matheson (D., Utah), in part because he voted against the health-care overhaul bill.

Funds for the Chamber campaign come from its member firms. It isn't required by law to disclose the amount of the donations or what companies provide them.

The ad-spending blitz will be the first installment of what is expected to be a record-breaking year for Chamber election spending, topping the $50 million spent on congressional elections in 2010. It is one of the earliest of its size in an election year and is a reminder that the battle for Congress could be as fierce as the presidential race.

Although attention has focused largely on the presidential nominating contest, conservative groups, liberal organizations and labor unions are expected to spend a record amount on dozens of races that will decide who controls the House and Senate.

The Center for Responsive Politics estimated that total spending by candidates, parties and outside groups for the 2010 federal election was $3.6 billion, split almost evenly at $1.82 billion for Democrats and $1.77 billion for Republicans.

Spending by the pro-Republican organizations will be countered by a roster of pro-Democratic organizations and labor unions. Last year, Democrats created a set of outside political groups to back their efforts in the House, and a separate set to defend Democratic senators. These groups have raised less than their conservative counterparts. Much of their funding comes from labor unions who say they could spend more time and money on congressional races than in previous years.

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