PHILADELPHIA — National GOP efforts to save four vulnerable Pennsylvania Republicans ramped up to a new level this week — with a key group redirecting $3.6 million to boost U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in Bucks County and Elon Musk’s super PAC spending more than $1.4 million across three other GOP districts.

The influx of spending in four high-stakes races in the state comes as Republicans face a worsening outlook in their goal to keep control of Congress after the midterm elections.

Multiple nonpartisan groups have moved their ratings of the GOP-held Pennsylvania districts toward Democrats in recent days, including Fox News, which now considers Fitzpatrick’s reelection contest a toss-up and other races leaning toward Democrats.

The launch of millions of dollars’ worth of television ads to support Fitzpatrick on Tuesday was particularly striking.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, which is associated with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., did not previously have any scheduled ads in the race between the Bucks County Republican and Democratic challenger Bob Harvie.

But with the party facing a tough national map, the organization abandoned efforts to defend Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Kean in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District and at least one other struggling incumbent, the New York Times reported Tuesday. Those resources were disbursed to a series of other districts, including nearly $3.6 million to Fitzpatrick’s, according to The Inquirer’s review of the tracking site AdImpact.

The new GOP spending comes after national Democratic leaders, including would-be Speaker Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and affiliated groups, stepped up their financial investments and attention on the race.

“For two years, we’ve built the resources and infrastructure that allow us to maneuver in a difficult environment,” CLF president Chris Winkelman said in a statement. “These moves keep the pressure on the most vulnerable Democrats and preserve a path to 218 seats.”

Fitzpatrick, a moderate who has distanced himself from President Donald Trump, is the last remaining Republican in Congress from the Philadelphia area and has withstood previous Democratic waves.

Musk’s latest move

Musk’s political organization has so far not come to Fitzpatrick’s aid while making three other Pennsylvania Republicans among its top priorities in the House, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission as of Tuesday.

America PAC has spent at least $460,000 in recent weeks in each of the state’s other three swing districts, which are held by Republican U.S. Reps. Rob Bresnahan of Luzerne County; Ryan Mackenzie of Lehigh County; and Scott Perry of York County.

That amount was slightly more than the PAC’s spending in most other House races across the country that it has gotten involved in so far, according to the latest public filings.

The financial support — which has fueled ads and mailers that independently support the Republican lawmakers — also marks a different strategy for Musk in Pennsylvania compared with two years ago, when the world’s richest person tried to incentivize Republican voter turnout with randomized $1 million gifts.

In the 2024 election, he spent just $7,000 to directly benefit now-U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick’s campaign while at the same time spending about $290 million to help other Republicans, including President Donald Trump. In the current election cycle, he has increased his total political giving to $366 million, quietly becoming the largest known donor in the midterms, according to the New York Times.

His group’s ads this month have had mostly the same template for Democrats across the country — plugging Pennsylvania candidates like Bob Brooks, in the Lehigh Valley race, or Janelle Stelson, in the Harrisburg-based district, into generic messages that label them as far left.

“The Democrats say they’re different. But no matter the face, they’re the same socialist underneath. Don’t get fooled,” a voice-over reads in one 15-second digital ad in which nesting dolls are pulled apart to show U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and then the Democratic candidate targeted.

Ad surge in Bucks County

National Republicans have broadly followed a similar strategy for months, even as the Democrats running in the competitive Pennsylvania districts and elsewhere do not describe themselves as socialist.

In the Bucks County-based 1st Congressional District, the millions of dollars in new Republican spending will add to what was already set to be a final three weeks packed with television ads.

House Majority PAC, a leading national Democratic super PAC, had already planned more than $6.3 million worth of ads to hit starting this week. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the official campaign arm connected to Jeffries, added $900,000.

The latest spending by national Republicans brings the total planned spending for the race, as of Tuesday, to nearly even — $9.4 million for Fitzpatrick and more than $9.5 million for Harvie.

Harvie campaign manager Dan McCormick said in a statement Tuesday that “Washington Republicans are pouring money in to try and rescue Brian Fitzpatrick.”

“They are seeing the same polling we are seeing, which shows this race is a dead heat with momentum surging behind Bob at the perfect time,” McCormick said.

Fitzpatrick’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment. But the National Republican Campaign Committee, which has close ties to Johnson — who met with Fitzpatrick last week — projected confidence.

“Across Pennsylvania, Republicans have strong incumbents running on their phenomenal records of cutting taxes for working families, improving safety and security, and delivering for the communities they were born and raised in,” NRCC spokesperson Reilly Richardson said in a statement.

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