Americans for Prosperity Action (AFP Action), the Koch network's super PAC, filed roughly $6.4 million of Senate independent expenditures in a single day on Tuesday 2 June, across five states1. Federal law bars these independent expenditures from coordinating with any campaign. The breakdown: $1.77M for Mike Rogers in Michigan, $1.75M on Ohio backing Jon Husted and opposing Sherrod Brown, $798,000 for Ashley Hinson in Iowa, $500,000 for Kurt Alme in Montana, and $375,000 against Chris Pappas in New Hampshire. Federal Election Commission data shows Republican-aligned Senate IEs outpacing Democratic-aligned ones by roughly 2.3 to 1 across the 29 May to 6 June window2.
That inverts the committee-cash picture. Democrats hold the party-committee edge, with the DCCC carrying a $12.6M cash lead over its Republican counterpart the NRCC, a reversal of the NRCC's $8.3M Q1 advantage that flipped over April. Neither lead substitutes for the other. A committee dollar funds field offices, registration drives and coordinated expenditures tied to a named candidate; a super-PAC dollar buys a television week and nothing else. The 2026 money fight is running on two separate tracks, one ground-war and one broadcast, and each side leads a different one.
The state choices read as a leading indicator. AFP Action's $798,000 for Iowa and $500,000 for Montana are heavier than public ratings imply for seats forecasters still lean Republican, and the spend landed before any forecaster moved to match it. Outside money built on donor data that runs more current than any published model arrives where a network privately sees exposure. Where the Koch network defends first marks where its own modelling sees risk, which is why the Iowa and Montana placements matter beyond their dollar size.
