Chuck Darwin<p>A super PAC closely linked to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) <br>is putting money into defending former House Freedom Caucus Chair <a href="https://c.im/tags/Scott" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Scott</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Perry" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Perry</span></a> (R-Pa.) <br>for the first time this election cycle. </p><p>Why it matters: <br>👉Polls suggest the race is highly competitive, <br>and a PAC tied to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) <br>has already put millions into supporting Perry's Democratic opponent, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Janelle" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Janelle</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Stelson" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Stelson</span></a>.</p><p>Stelson has also been clobbering Perry in fundraising, besting him by more than $2 million between July and September, according to Federal Election Commission filings from both campaigns.</p><p>Driving the news: <br>The Johnson-affiliated Congressional Leadership Fund put more than $200,000 into ad reservations in Pennsylvania's 10th district on Tuesday, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact.</p><p>CLF had not spent anything in the district as of this weekend, though its nonprofit arm American Action Network put $500,000 into ads supporting Perry.</p><p>Perry's primary bases of support so far have been House Freedom Action <br>— the political arm of the House Freedom Caucus <br>— and Win It Back PAC, which have spent over $600,000 and $900,000 for him, respectively.</p><p>By contrast, Democrats' House Majority PAC has spent nearly $2.5 million on ads, <br>on top of $2.1 million from Stelson's campaign and nearly $1 million from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.</p><p>Zoom in: <br>CLF's ad reservations were shifted from Eighteen Fifty-Four Fund, <br>💥a Republican group that still has nearly $2.1 million reserved in the district.</p><p> <br>That suggests that House Republicans are poised to make a far deeper investment than their initial $200,000 ad buy.<br> <br>Republican strategists have insisted to Axios that they don't see the race as competitive, but Democrats said they expected the GOP to invest more heavily there after a poll showed Stelson leading by 9 percentage points.</p><p>Between the lines: <br>Perry has been a thorn in the side of both Johnson and his predecessor, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), as the former chair of the House <a href="https://c.im/tags/Freedom" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Freedom</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Caucus" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Caucus</span></a>.<br> <br>The right-wing group has led numerous revolts against leadership over government spending and the debt ceiling, even forcing McCarthy to go through 15 grueling ballots to be elected in January 2023.<br> <br>But Johnson has appointed Perry to the prestigious <a href="https://c.im/tags/House" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>House</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Intelligence" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Intelligence</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Committee" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Committee</span></a> and campaigned in his district, <br>with Perry's campaign saying they have gotten everything they've needed from the GOP establishment.</p><p><a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/10/15/mike-johnson-scott-perry-freedom-caucus" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">axios.com/2024/10/15/mike-john</span><span class="invisible">son-scott-perry-freedom-caucus</span></a></p>