GOP PAC floats NH Senate candidate with last-minute funding

A GOP super PAC is putting a seven-figure investment into the New Hampshire Senate race, providing a new source of outside funding for Republican Don Bolduc as polling shows him surging in the final stretch — but in need of more resources.

Sentinel Action Fund, a super PAC associated with the conservative advocacy organization Heritage Action for America, confirmed the new $1 million ad buy exclusively with POLITICO. A spokesperson for the group said the ad — a negative spot against Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan — is set to hit airwaves on Wednesday, and Sentinel may add to its buy.

Jessica Anderson, president of the super PAC, called the Army brigadier general a “political outsider” whose vote was needed to reverse Democratic economic policies. The group endorsed Bolduc earlier this month, and prior to the Senate primary spent $300,000 on a July ad attacking Hassan on gas prices.

“General Don Bolduc will be the senator New Hampshirites need in Washington,” Anderson said in a statement to POLITICO. “His campaign is showing tremendous momentum in the Granite State, and it is time for the whole of the conservative movement to come together and support his bid to unseat Sen. Hassan.”

Bolduc’s rise in the polls — which now show him tied or within the margin of error against Hassan — comes as Senate Leadership Fund, the super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced a week ago it was slashing more than $5 million in remaining ad buys in the state in order to spend the funds in Pennsylvania.

Sentinel Action Fund’s venture into New Hampshire mirrors its involvement in Arizona. In both cases, the new super PAC sought to fill a void left by SLF’s departure. In the case of Arizona, Republican Blake Masters began catching up with Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly after Sentinel Action Fund and a series of other GOP outside spending groups rushed in to buy up advertising time that SLF had canceled.

SLF’s announcement last week to cancel its remaining investment in New Hampshire came two days after Bolduc reiterated he would still not support McConnell as Senate majority leader, a position he held during the primary.

In the story, first reported by POLITICO, Bolduc said he was “not backing off” his past comments about the need for new leadership in the Senate. Masters earlier this year had also suggested a change in Republican Senate leadership.

In the days since, two new Republican senators have endorsed Bolduc: Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. Early next week, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, will travel to New Hampshire to campaign with him.

Bolduc, an Army brigadier general who ran further to the right than his Republican primary opponents, has attempted to temper some of his positions after winning the party’s nomination. That includes reversing his past stance that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, who ultimately did not endorse in the New Hampshire Senate primary.

An internal poll released last week by Bolduc’s campaign, conducted by Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio, found Bolduc just two points behind Hassan, 49 to 47 percent. An Emerson College poll also conducted in mid-October showed a three-point race, while a Co/Efficient poll this week had the race tied.

The recent surveys show Bolduc has pulled closer to Hassan since just after the Sept. 13 primary, when he was polling 7 to 9 percentage points behind the incumbent Democrat.

Coupled with a lingering poor midterm environment for Democrats — Biden’s approval stands at just 40 percent in the state, Emerson and Co/Efficient found — the recent polling has urged Republican groups to step in and keep irons in the fire in New Hampshire.

The NRSC, which canceled millions of dollars in scheduled advertisements in New Hampshire earlier this month, citing SLF’s presence in the state, this week said it would put $1 million back in. Other GOP super PACs, including Our American Century and Restoration PAC, have placed buys in the last week totaling $1 million.

But Democrats continue to have a spending advantage in the final days of the race. Through Election Day, Democrats have another $6.5 million worth of ads scheduled, according to AdImpact, compared to $1.3 million from Republicans — not including Sentinel Action Fund’s new investment.

The candidates are set to face off in their final of three debates on Thursday, an event hosted by WMUR, the main local television news station for New Hampshire viewers.

A field operation funded by Sentinel Action Fund has knocked more than 32,000 doors in New Hampshire this month, according to the organization. The $600,000 door-knocking operation was also designed to boost GOP congressional candidates Karoline Leavitt and Robert Burns.