A spending war has broken out in the North Carolina neck-and-neck Senate race and Republicans are pouring in the heavy reinforcements.
Sensing that incumbent Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan's miniscule lead is fading fast against her opponent, Republican state House speaker Thom Tillis, Republicans plan to flood the campaign with an additional $6 million to $6.5 million in TV ads in the next three weeks in an effort to add the Tar Heel State to their tally in the struggle to take over control of the Senate.
"Our internals show that North Carolina is starting to break toward Thom Tillis and we are prioritizing the North Carolina race, ensuring that Tillis has the resources necessary to defeat Kay Hagan," Brad Dayspring, a National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman,
told Politico.
Real Clear Politics' average shows Hagan leading Tillis by 1.5 percent overall and Hagan leading by as much as 3 percent to 4 percent in various polls.
However,
a new Suffolk University/USA Today poll shows Tillis pulling within striking distance, with Tillis listed at 45 percent and Hagan at just 45.40 percent, which has raised Republican hopes that she is beatable at the polls on Nov. 4.
A new High Point University poll finds the race as a dead heat, 40 percent to each candidate, wiping out a two-point lead Hagan enjoyed in the same poll conducted last month.
"This U.S. Senate race is very close, and one reason for that is the generally negative outlook North Carolina’s voters have right now. This electoral environment will make it more difficult for either candidate to open up a wide lead and the competitiveness of the race will compound this tendency by continuing to attract extremely high levels of outside spending and negative campaigning," Dr. Martin Kifer, poll director told,
told Breitbart News.
Tillis' recent attacks against Hagan for missing meetings of the Senate Armed Services Committee, including one in which she instead attended a fundraiser, seem to have had little effect, with 53.40 percent of those surveyed saying it made no difference in their voting choice.
The NRSC has spent $4 million in the state and is increasing spending to counter Democratic plans to spend $7 million between now and the election,
Politico reports, creating ads designed to sway the undecided voter into the GOP column.
"Undecided voters are moving toward Thom Tillis," Dayspring told Politico.
North Carolina already has proven to be an expensive race. The Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity has spent $8 million and Crossroads GPS $9 million, while the Democrats' Senate Majority PAC has spent $11 million and has plans to pony up an additional $3 million.