The three major Republican committees — the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee — ended July with about $279 million in cash. That was more than double the roughly $136 million held by their Democratic counterparts, which also carried nearly $18 million in debt, according to Federal Election Commission filings in August.
Political analysts said Republican committees have sought to seize on their party's significant war chest and the new legal landscape to help level the playing field in important races where Democratic candidates have outraised their Republican opponents.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee said in a June memo that "lowest unit charge" rates for coordinated ads historically have been three to 13 times cheaper than the rates paid by outside political groups.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee works to get Republican candidates elected to the Senate. The National Republican Congressional Committee works to get Republican candidates elected to the House.
A group of Democratic candidates including Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia sued in June to try to block the lowest unit charge policy from applying to party committees.
The Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on August 25 sided with the Democratic challengers, ruling that political parties are not entitled to the low-cost ad rate. That ruling prompted the Republican committees to ask the Supreme Court to halt the 4th Circuit's ruling before the FCC ad-rate 60-day window was set to open.
In court papers, the Republican committees said they have already budgeted "tens of millions of dollars in ad buys under these rules." They added, "But because of the 4th Circuit's decision, broadcast stations are already rescinding those rates."
In response, the Democratic candidates told the justices that reviving the FCC policy would expose them to "an onslaught of more negative advertising than they would otherwise face, along with a higher level of competition for a limited amount of available television advertising time and an accompanying need to adjust their own campaign strategy accordingly."
Ossoff was joined in the legal challenge by U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown of Ohio, U.S. Senate candidate Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Michigan Representative Kristen McDonald Rivet, who is seeking reelection.
The Supreme Court in a 6-3 ruling in June powered by its conservative majority decided that a cap on the amount of money parties can spend on campaigns with input from candidates violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protections against government abridgment of freedom of speech.
It was the latest decision eliminating campaign funding limits in recent decades and marked one of several rulings the court issued during its recently concluded term that favored Republicans.
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