Super PAC Edge keeps Democrats Competitive in Senate Races

Strong fundraising by Democrats and their allies—including a formidable super PAC run by people close to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid —is helping the party remain competitive in Senate races where many other factors favor Republican candidates.

The Democratic fundraising has allowed the party and its allies to run more TV advertisements than Republicans in the first two weeks of September in nine of the 10 top Senate races this fall, according to an analysis of political spending by the nonpartisan Wesleyan Media Project.

The Democrats' edge in TV ads of late is due partly to a string of super PACs that have ramped up their efforts in the past two months. Since July 3, the largest super PACs aligned with Democrats have raised four times the money of pro-GOP super PACs, and have now spent $60 million to Republicans' $38 million, data compiled by The Wall Street Journal shows.

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The Democratic push is being led by Senate Majority PAC, run by people affiliated with Mr. Reid, which has raised more money this election cycle than any super PAC aligned with either party: $33 million, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. It has put $28 million so far into TV and digital advertising, with nearly half of that spent in the last 10 weeks. Its biggest donors include hedge-fund billionaire Tom Steyer, who has given $5 million since 2013, and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has given $2.5 million.

Super PACs can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money on behalf of or against candidates, but they can't donate directly to candidates.

To be sure, conservative outside groups plan to spend millions this fall to help Republican candidates. But the efforts of the Senate Majority PAC and other Democratic interest groups could represent the best chance that Democrats have of holding onto control of the Senate and keeping Mr. Reid in charge of the chamber.

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