American Bridge launches $50 million bid to flip GOP turf in 2026

American Bridge 21st Century is putting $50 million behind a midterm push aimed squarely at Republican-held territory, betting that Donald Trump’s coalition has left cracks in places Democrats have often written off. The campaign, which began Tuesday, will reach more than a dozen House and Senate contests and lean on digital ads, streaming audio, television, social media, direct mail and radio.

The targets stretch across Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas in the House, with Senate involvement in Alaska, Iowa, Michigan and Mississippi. American Bridge is passing on Senate races in Maine, North Carolina and Texas, saying those contests already appear likely to attract enough money from other Democratic and allied groups.

Bradley Beychok, the group’s co-founder, said the effort was seeded last year after he attended an inauguration rally and heard the slogan “Trump will fix it.” Beychok argued that Trump and Republicans had broken their promise to working-class voters on affordability, turning the campaign into more than a simple airing of grievances. The message, he said, is meant to “maximize” Democratic gains in Republican territory, at a moment when national Democratic committees are still trying to keep pace with GOP fundraising.

American Bridge said the ads will center on specific voters and their economic experiences, including Brad Singleton, a 50-year-old personal trainer from Walford, Iowa. Singleton said he had been a Republican for 32 years before switching to the Democratic Party. He said the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot began changing his view of Trump, and that he later regretted voting for Trump again in 2024 after being persuaded by the Make American Healthy Again movement. He pointed to the economy and the war with Iran as reasons for his disillusionment.

The new spending is the latest sign that American Bridge, long more closely associated with presidential cycles, sees opportunity in a broader fight over the midterm map. During the 2024 cycle, the group set a goal of spending $200 million, including $140 million on paid advertising and direct mail, much of it aimed at peeling away Trump support among rural voters. In January, it also launched Research Books, a public opposition-research hub that initially featured 37 Republican candidates across House, Senate and state-level races.

The strategy suggests two things at once: Democrats think Republican terrain may be more vulnerable than it looks, and they still believe they need sharper, more local arguments to prove it. American Bridge is now testing whether those arguments can move enough voters to matter in districts and states where Republicans have usually held the advantage.