House Democrats book $1.5 million in fall TV ads to defend Colorado's 8th Congressional District

The House Democrats' independent expenditure arm this week reserved $1.55 million in fall TV advertising in Colorado's largest media market, likely targeting the state's tossup 8th Congressional District as the party bids to retake the majority in the chamber in November.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee booked the ads in the Denver market as part of its $28 million round of initial national ad reservations on broadcast TV, streaming and digital platforms. The total includes $12 million in digital reservations, doubling what the DCCC initially reserved two years ago, the group said in a release.

While the group can reallocate its spending as the election approaches, it appears the Democrats are preparing to defend first-term U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo in the evenly divided 8th CD, which stretches from suburbs north of Denver to Greeley. Caraveo will face the winner of Tuesday's primary between state Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Fort Lupton, and former state Rep. Janak Joshi, R-Colorado Springs.

“The stakes for the House majority couldn’t be higher," Julie Metz, the DCCC's executive director, said in a statement. "House Republicans are obsessed with pursuing a dangerous and extreme agenda to take away reproductive freedom, cut Social Security, and give more tax cuts to big corporations and the ultra wealthy at the expense of working families."

She added that the Democratic group's focus on streaming and digital advertising helps reach voters in an increasingly fragmented media landscape. The DCCC said it plans to spend its digital budget across 21 states, including Colorado, though the group didn't provide a breakdown by state or media market.

This week's new TV ad reservations push potential spending in Colorado by both national parties' House campaign outfits past $10 million, on top of $5 million booked last month by the GOP-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund and $4 million announced earlier by the Democrats' House Majority PAC.

Some of that money will likely be spent in other congressional district, in addition to the 8th CD. That could include the Western Slope-based 3rd Congressional District, where Adam Frisch, the presumptive Democratic nominee, will face the winner of a six-way Republican primary. The GOP-leaning seat is currently represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, who moved across the state earlier this year to run in another district.

Races in the two Colorado districts were among the closest in the country last cycle. Caraveo won election to her first term in the newly created district by just over 1,600 votes, while Boebert won her second term by fewer than 600 votes.

A spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, the DCCC's counterpart, said the Democratic group's reservations were almost entirely devoted to protecting vulnerable incumbents, suggesting the opposition party's defensive spending doesn't match its ambitious rhetoric.

“Extreme House Democrats are waving the white flag and abandoning their dreams of a House majority," said Will Reinert, the NRCC's national press secretary, in a statement."That’s the only way to explain their measly reservation on offense — a tacit admission that Speaker Hakeem Jeffries is a fading pipe dream that will never be reality.”

Democrats need to flip four House seats to take the gavel in the House, though that number could change, as voters fill vacant seats in special elections.

The campaign committees' preliminary ad reservations could change as the election approaches. By booking early, however, the groups can lock in lower ad rates for September and October before prices increase as fewer spots are available.