NEW BERN, North Carolina — Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) stated that the withdrawal of funds by major GOP super PACs in key races does not indicate a diminishing map for Republicans to maintain their House majority this November. "It’s about resource allocation, and we have a huge war chest, but we’re having to spread it out across the country," Johnson told the Washington Examiner after a campaign event for GOP candidate Laurie Buckhout at the Copper Ridge barn in New Bern.
Earlier this week, top Republican super PACs associated with GOP leadership and President Donald Trump retracted spending from the campaigns of two vulnerable House incumbents, Reps. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ) and Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA). The Congressional Leadership Fund, the primary House GOP super PAC, also withdrew funding in Texas’s 28th Congressional District, where Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina is challenging Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX).
Johnson noted, "I don’t get to make those decisions. As you know, the super PAC operates independently of me, so we don’t coordinate. I think there’s three races where they move money around, but I called each one of those candidates and told them, ‘Stay the course. You’re going to win,’ because I am the person who’s actually on the ground in these districts."
He recently campaigned for Miller-Meeks and Tijerina, emphasizing the enthusiasm he observed in both districts. Johnson remarked, "I was literally just in both of those districts with huge enthusiastic crowds, like we saw here today, and the energy on the ground, the excitement, the sort of the frame of mind of the candidates, we’re going to win those districts, and so they are totally undeterred."
The Congressional Leadership Fund also retracted over $4 million in broadcast reservations from California’s 13th District, where former Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln is competing against incumbent Rep. Adam Gray (D-CA). Additionally, the Safety and Affordability PAC, part of Trump’s MAGA Inc. PAC, withdrew nearly $1 million from Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District, where musician Marty O’Donnell is attempting to unseat incumbent Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV).
These financial withdrawals have been interpreted as a negative indication for Republicans as the party faces challenges amid polling showing it struggling with voters concerned about rising living costs during the Iran war. An AARP poll released on Thursday indicates Democrats leading Republicans by 3 points on the generic ballot, with 49% of respondents favoring Democrats compared to 46% for Republicans. Johnson dismissed the polling data, stating, "We don’t pay attention to polls. We haven’t for the last few cycles, and I think that the Democrats are trying to use the polls to make this self-fulfilling prophecy that our turnout will be dampened."