(The Center Square) – With just over five weeks until Election Day, the National Republican Congressional Committee says it plans to invest $1.45 million into Republican Laurie Buckhout’s campaign against Rep. Don Davis in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.
This is in addition to many millions of dollars that both sides have already spent in the district, which is considered the only truly competitive congressional race in North Carolina.
The investment will go toward “hybrid ad reservations” and includes a $725,000 direct investment “to extend the Buckhout campaign’s advertising.” According to a release from the North Carolina GOP, this is all in addition to a previous ad buy from the Republican committee.
“Hybrid advertising is a way for party committees to split the cost of an ad at the cheaper candidate rate to help candidates get on air faster with their own message,” the release said.
The Hill, in partnership with DecisionDesk HQ, predicts that Buckhout’s Democrat opponent Don Davis has a 77% chance of winning the district.
That is up 1% from its prediction earlier in the month. That prediction is updated every day and is based on the latest polling, in conjunction with other factors like the political leanings of the district and the favorability of particular candidates.
Despite this prediction, the race is still considered a toss-up by many, and Davis’ reelection campaign was named fifth most-vulnerable in the country by Roll Call.
The area, northeastern most in the state, has variations to the district map though usually with the same cluster of counties. In any form, the region has not elected a Republican representative since 1883.
“With this historic investment, the NRCC will ensure more North Carolinians can hear Laurie’s inspiring life story: serving our country in combat and building her own business from the ground up,” said Delanie Bomar of the committee.
The release added that the Republican party is “all in for Laurie Buckhout and recently coordinated a statewide deployment to knock on doors and make phone calls throughout the district.”
All of this is part of an effort to boost Buckhout’s name recognition.
Republicans also hope the ad buys will offset the millions of dollars that Democrats have invested in “outside negative advertising” in District 1.
Davis, first elected in 2022, raised $3.17 million up to June 30, which was the end of the second fundraising quarter. Out-of-state funding has proven very beneficial for the Davis campaign.
Buckhout brought in $2.61 million over the same period, but ended it with significantly less cash on hand. Going into the final few months of the election, Davis had $2.62 million still to spend, while Buckhout had $600,000.
