Record Outside Spending Marks Arizona and Florida House Contests
Outside spending in two closely watched House races has reached a level that has drawn wide attention. Democrat Amish Shah in Arizona and Democrat Pia Dandia in Florida, both of Indian origin, are facing a combined outside spending total of at least 23.89 million dollars from four super PACs.
The spending is documented in the latest 24-hour independent expenditure reports sent to the Federal Election Commission on October 21 and 22. These filings detail activity from October 19 through 21. Since the committees themselves report the numbers, the totals could still be adjusted.
The largest Democratic-aligned committee in the contests is House Majority PAC. It has reported 7.8 million dollars in spending against Republican Casey Askar in Florida's 22nd Congressional District. On October 20, the group spent 2 million dollars on television, 369,000 dollars on digital ads and 112,320 dollars on radio in that race.
House Majority PAC has also reported 4.4 million dollars in spending against Republican J. Feeley in Arizona's 1st Congressional District. Its October 20 activity there included 1.5 million dollars for television and 247,000 dollars for digital ads. The committee additionally spent 22,500 dollars on digital ads supporting Dandia. Across both races, its total is roughly 12.25 million dollars.
On the Republican side, two super PACs associated with MAGA Inc. have reported spending a combined 11.63 million dollars against the two candidates. Safety and Affordability PAC has reported 5.7 million dollars against Shah, while No Going Back PAC has reported about 6 million dollars against Dandia, according to its 24-hour report filed on October 22.
Smaller groups have added to the totals. The League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund placed 447,000 dollars in ads against Feeley on October 20, which brought its opposition spending to 482,077 dollars. American Majority Action PAC reported door-to-door canvassing and phone banking for Feeley on October 22, raising its support spending to 1 million dollars.
In Florida, Stronger America Together reported 29,500 dollars in direct mail against Dandia in an October 23 filing, which brought its total to 154,708 dollars. ANHPI Rising Tide reported 4,515 dollars in digital ads against Feeley on October 19.
Federal figures alone do not tell the complete story in Arizona. A national political outlet reported on Friday that Republican groups have spent over 22 million dollars supporting Feeley, with most of that money arriving in the final weeks of the race.
Feeley is a former American football player and ex-kicker for the Arizona Cardinals, and a longtime friend and golf partner of President Donald Trump. Shah is a physician and former Arizona state legislator running in a district that includes Scottsdale and part of northeast Phoenix. Dandia is contesting a reconfigured Florida district where Republicans hold an advantage of about 38,500 registered voters. Voters go to the polls on November 3.