North Carolina Democratic Senate nominee Deborah Ross

Some very big news from Team Blue in two Senate races: Politico reports that the DSCC is launching a $1.5 million TV buy to help Jason Kander in Missouri, and a $2.5 million buy in support of Deborah Ross in North Carolina. This is the first time a major Democratic group has run ads in either contest.

For months, polls have shown a tight race between Ross and GOP Sen. Richard Burr, but outside groups from both sides remained off the airwaves. However, the conservative group One Nation started running $2.5 million in positive ads for Burr in August. The Senate Leadership Fund, another GOP group, upped the ante two weeks ago when they announced that they would spend $8.1 million for Burr this cycle. The Democrats may have decided that, as long as the GOP wasn't advertising, they'd wait until closer to Election Day to save their resources. But now that the GOP has started their ad campaign, Team Blue evidently has decided it’s time to commit resources to North Carolina.

It’s a little more surprising to see Democrats advertising in ​Missouri, a conservative state that Donald Trump is likely to carry in November. However, polls have consistently shown Republican Sen. Roy Blunt with a 3 to 7-point lead over Kander, and the DSCC has evidently decided that Blunt is worth spending money against. One Nation has also run ads here and the SLF reserved $2.5 million in fall TV time to support Blunt back in June; the NRA also recently started running ads against Kander. This is also the first time a major Democratic group has run commercials here.