BOCA RATON, Fla.—Marco Rubio may not have been the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s first choice to back here in Florida for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate, but that doesn’t mean the NRSC isn’t putting its dollars behind him now.
The NRSC has reserved $3 million dollars in television ads for his campaign, according to figures provided to The Daily Caller by a GOP operative.
And Rubio isn’t the only Tea Party-backed candidate that may have been a pain in the side for the so-called establishment during GOP primary fights who is now receiving significant financial assistance from national Republicans.
Looking at preliminary investments, the NRSC is spending or has spent funds on most competitive U.S. Senate races involving Tea Party-backed Republicans:
—In Kentucky, the NRSC is on the air statewide and has reserved just under $2 million on ad buys for GOP candidate Rand Paul. During the primary, Republican Trey Grayson had the backing of the establishment.
—In Colorado, the NRSC is also on the air statewide in support of Republican Ken Buck, who bested the establishment-backed Jane Norton in the primary. A total of $3.2 million is reserved by the NRSC for ad buys in support of Buck.
—In Nevada, the NRSC has reserved $700,000 in statewide television for GOP nominee and Tea Party-backed Sharron Angle.
—In Pennsylvania, $3 million is reserved for TV for Republican nominee Pat Toomey.
—No airtime has been reserved for Christine O’Donnell in Delaware and Joe Miller in Alaska, but the NRSC has donated $42,600 — the maximum donation allowable under law — to both campaigns.
The operative who passed on the figures mentioned that while the NRSC has offered a great deal of assistance to Tea Party candidates, it has not yet reserved television time in Ohio, New Hampshire, Indiana, Illinois and Arkansas – “all races in which the nominee was tagged in the primary as the establishment favorite.”