The National Republican Congressional Committee announced Thursday a commitment to spend $3 million on advertising in two critical Pennsylvania House races that could help decide who controls the chamber.
Many in Washington see Pennsylvania’s 7th and 8th Congressional Districts as key Republican pickup opportunities. The NRCC placed the two seats on its target list last March.
Another top offensive opportunity the committee identified is the 17th Congressional District in the Pittsburgh suburbs, on the other side of the state.
On the state’s eastern side, the NRCC will spend $1.4 million in the Philadelphia media market and $1.6 million in the Wilkes-Barre-Scranton media market.
NRCC chairman Rep. Rich Hudson (R-NC) declared, “The NRCC committed from Day One to not just hold our majority, but go on offense to grow our majority — today we are putting our money where our mouth is. This initial investment gives our candidates firepower to remind voters of the Biden border, crime, and inflation crises wreaking havoc on their daily lives. Extreme Democrats who enabled the chaos and malaise should polish up their resumes — they will be unemployed soon.”
The 8th District is one of five Democrat-held seats that Trump has also won, which places an even bigger target on the back of incumbent Rep. Matt Cartwright.
The district contains Luzerne County, one of the critical “pivot counties” — those that went for Trump in 2016 after being won by President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012.
Trump won Luzerne County by a 19.31% margin in 2016 after Obama won it by 4.81% in 2012.
In 2020, Trump won it again, garnering 56.7% of the vote to former Vice President Joe Biden’s 42.3%.
Biden won the state overall with 50.0% of voters backing him, over the 48.8% who backed Trump.
In his last election, in 2022, Cartwright defeated his Republican opponent 51.2% to 48.8%, 146,956 to 139,930 raw votes.
The Cook Political Report places both Cartwright and fellow Democratic Rep. Susan Wild of the 7th District into the “Democrat Toss-Up” column, as does Sabato’s Crystal Ball.