First on CNN: Key Democratic group pours $186 million in battle for House and preps for ‘trench warfare’ with GOP

Editor’s Note: For more on the high-stakes fight for the House, watch “Inside Politics Sunday with Manu Raju” at 8 a.m. ET and 11 a.m. ET.

House Democrats are aiming for just four more seats to win back the majority this fall – and their big-spending outside group is prepared to spend more than it ever has to pick them up.

House Majority PAC, the super PAC linked to Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, is reserving $146 million in an initial round of TV ads and $40 million in digital advertising in nearly 60 media markets across the country as Democrats prepare for a furious battle with Republicans over the limited number of House races that will determine the next majority.

The details of their ad strategy, first shared with CNN, provide the clearest roadmap yet on how Democrats view their path to the majority. The group’s leaders said most of their money would be focused on pickup opportunities – including in 16 districts that Joe Biden carried in 2020 now occupied by Republicans – but also the seats that Democrats have to defend, including five in districts that Donald Trump won.

But the group, whose 2024 investment surpasses the $102 million initially reserved in ads in the 2022 cycle and the $41 million in the 2020 cycle, said it was making its largest investment ever to flood key districts with an aggressive ad campaign, including attacks against Republicans on abortion and the collapse of a bipartisan border security deal.

The group’s leader said the campaign would also target key voting blocs – such as Hispanic, Asian American and Black voters – as well as swing voters put off by Trump and the chaos in the House.

“We need four seats to win back the majority. That’s it,” Mike Smith, president of