Top GOP Super PACs Pull Funding from Two Endangered House Incumbents, Redirect to Safer Seats
The Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) and MAGA Inc., a super PAC affiliated with President Donald Trump, are withdrawing advertising spending from the reelection campaigns of Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ) and Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) with roughly three weeks remaining before the November midterm elections. Both groups are redirecting those funds toward other House races where Republicans are more confident. The New York Times was first to report the decision.
The Congressional Leadership Fund, aligned with House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Trump-affiliated MAGA Inc. are jointly pulling resources from Iowa's 1st Congressional District, held by Miller-Meeks, and New Jersey's 7th Congressional District, held by Kean Jr., according to multiple sources across outlets. CLF is clawing back $10 million in total from New Jersey, Iowa, Michigan, and Ohio, per the Washington Examiner. The group is also withdrawing from offensive targets in Michigan's 8th District and Ohio's 1st District, where it had sought to unseat Democratic Reps. Kristen McDonald Rivet and Greg Landsman respectively.
The funds are being redirected to incumbent Republicans in seats considered more winnable, including Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Monica De La Cruz (R-TX), Bryan Steil (R-WI), Rob Wittman (R-VA), and Bill Huizenga (R-MI), according to the Washington Examiner. CLF president Chris Winkelman stated, "These moves keep the pressure on the most vulnerable Democrats and preserve a path to 218 seats."
Miller-Meeks, who first won her seat in 2020 by just six votes and won her last election by less than a percentage point, is seeking a fourth term against Democrat Christina Bohannan. Kean, who represents one of the wealthiest districts in New Jersey encompassing suburbs and exurbs of New York City, won his 2024 reelection by just over 5%. A source close to Kean's campaign told Fox News Digital that "the race is fully funded down the home stretch," though GOP officials cited his roughly four-month absence from public campaigning earlier this year — which he later attributed to treatment for depression — as a factor in the decision. CNN reported that Republican officials believe the lack of transparency around that absence made the seat nearly impossible to defend.