ST. LOUIS — In an election with control of the Senate at stake, Republicans were counting on a win in GOP-friendly Missouri. Instead they’re suddenly plunging millions into the state to save incumbent Senator Roy Blunt from a young challenger who assembled an AR-15 rifle blindfolded in a daring new ad.
Polls show the race is close, but Democrats argue the momentum is with Missouri’s 35-year-old secretary of state, Jason Kander, a former Army intelligence officer in Afghanistan. Even Republicans were awed by Kander’s recent TV ad showing him putting together a rifle with a blindfold on and challenging Blunt, who did not serve in the military, to do the same.
‘‘Mr. Kander has hired himself a great ad agency. My hat is off to him,’’ said Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the campaign arm of the Senate GOP.
Democrats’ Senate campaign committee has sought to seize the moment, announcing $3.5 million in new advertising last week. ‘‘That’s a very, very, very, good ad, maybe the best ad I’ve ever seen, but that means buying more,’’ said the committee’s chairman, Senator Jon Tester of Montana.
This week, Wicker’s committee was forced to answer back with more than $500,000 in broadcast spending so far in St. Louis and Springfield. The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC run by allies of majority leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, is also spending heavily on the race, investing $2.5 million in Missouri this month alone.
Privately some Republicans voice dismay that they have to intervene in the Missouri race to such an extent at a time when they’re defending incumbents in blue and purple states around the country. In an unpredictable political environment with Donald Trump at the top of the ticket, Republicans are trying to protect a slim 54-46 Senate majority against Democrats who are determined to retake control.
The shifting environment in Missouri comes partly because Democrats are pulling back in battleground Ohio, where incumbent GOP Sen. Rob Portman has opened a substantial lead, and in Florida, where incumbent Senator Marco Rubio is looking strong in a state where advertising is extremely expensive.
Instead Democrats have decided to direct resources to North Carolina and to Missouri, where their advertising dollars will go farther.
Many Republicans are concerned about North Carolina’s Senator Richard Burr, but many still sound confident that Blunt will ultimately prevail.
