WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Paul Ryan's super political action committee said Monday it would spend $2.1 million on behalf of Rep. Leonard Lance, who is given just a 50-50 chance for re-election.

The Congressional Leadership Fund said it had reserved $2.1 million worth of advertising time on behalf of Lance, R-7th Dist., who is facing former Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Tom Malinowski in November in what the Cook Political Report considers a tossup race.

Lance's campaign manager, Jim Hilk, said the support "recognizes that Leonard is a bipartisan problem solver who fights for fiscal responsibility, a strong national defense and protection of the homeland."

His district was one of three added to the group's original list of 20, including the 3rd District represented Republican Rep. Tom MacArthur. In addition, the Congressional Leadership Fund opened offices in both MacArthur's and Lance's districts to help get out the vote in November.

Through May 16, Lance had just a slight financial advantage over Malinowski, $900,150 cash on hand versus $781,594, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

Lance is the only New Jersey House incumbent not favored to win re-election this fall by Cook, a Washington-based publication that tracks congressional races.

"It's not surprising that Paul Ryan, the field general in the GOP's war on New Jersey, would want to fight so hard to keep Leonard Lance in Congress," Malinowski campaign manager Colston Reid said. "Of course Leonard Lance is relying on Paul Ryan to fight his battles for him. He's in for a fight he knows he can't handle."

Malinowski is getting a boost of his own: the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said it would start running digital ads in the district attacking Republicans on health care.

"House Republicans will stop at nothing to rip away affordable health care coverage from their constituents, and we are all at risk as long as they control the House," said Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., the DCCC chairman.

The DCCC ad campaign also targeted MacArthur, who resurrected the Republican repeal effort after the bill initially was pulled from the House floor for lack of support.

The MacArthur amendment allowed states to seek waivers from the federal requirements that insurers offer a specific package of benefits and not charge more to those with pre-existing conditions such as cancer or diabetes.

President Donald Trump championed Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act that could have left up to 32 million additional Americans without health insurance. His Justice Department recently said it would not fight efforts to overturn the health care law's requirement that insurance companies cover those with pre-existing conditions.

Trump also acted on his own to weaken the law, and his efforts, added to the Republican repeal of a requirement that all Americans carry health insurance or pay a penalty, has caused premiums to increase substantially.

National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Chris Martin blamed the law itself, not the Trump administration's actions, for the problems.

"First Democrats implemented a law that everyone knew would collapse under its own weight, and now they're pushing Bernie Sanders' single-payer plan that would cost taxpayers $32 trillion over 10 years," Martin said. "It's beyond parody at this point."

The $32 trillion is an estimate on how much single-payer health care would cost, but that would replace the trillions in insurance premiums and medical costs now spent under the current system. For example, the Urban Institute said private spending would drop by $22 trillion.

While Lance voted against last year's Republican efforts to repeal the law and eliminate the individual mandate, he supported earlier efforts to do away with the Affordable Care Act.

Also Monday, the Progressive Turnout Project, a pro-Democratic organization, organization, said it would spend $350,000 on a get-out-the-vote effort on behalf of former Navy pilot and federal prosecutor Mikie Sherrill, who is running to succeed retiring Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-11th Dist. It is one of 18 districts the PAC is targeting.

The group said there it would bring in 11 canvassers to knock on doors between now and Nov. 6.

"When voter turnout is high, Democrats win elections," Executive Director Alex Morgan said.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.