Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul's political action committee is releasing its first on-air television ads this week with a six-figure ad buy on Kansas television stations and online for Republican Sen. Pat Roberts.
RAND PAC
told Politico Monday that it has raised $300,000 since Oct. 15, when federal filings reported the committee had $242,000 on hand.
In addition to the Kansas race, RAND PAC said in a press release that it also plans to become involved in the close Senate races in Kentucky, where Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, who serves as Senate minority leader, is facing off against Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes; and in North Carolina, where
polls report the race between incumbent Democrat Sen. Kay Hagan and Republican Thom Tillis is a tie.
Further, RAND PAC plans to be involved in New Hampshire and Iowa in their early-presidential races.
Paul has appeared frequently on Roberts' campaign trail, where he praises Roberts for his stance against foreign aid to countries "where radicals storm our embassies, burn our flag and kill our diplomats” — a position similar to that held by Paul.
The Kansas race, pitting Roberts against Independent candidate Greg Orman, is all but a dead heat, according to polls compiled by
RealClearPolitics, which has Orman ahead of Roberts by less than one percentage point.
Paul, who is a likely candidate for his party's presidential nomination in 2016, scheduled three stops Tuesday in Kansas to stump for Roberts, along with GOP Gov. Sam Brownback, who is running in a close race against Democrat challenger Paul Davis.
The PAC's advertising in Kentucky will start on Tuesday and run through Election Day.
According to ad trackers, the group has already spent about $70,000 on television ads in the Wichita market alone. The PAC is spending another $16,000 each in the Iowa, Kentucky, New Hampshire, and North Carolina races, according to Federal Election Commission filings.