Ads Attacking Health Law Stagger Outspent Democrats

WASHINGTON — Democrats are increasingly anxious about an onslaught of television ads hitting vulnerable Senate and House candidates for their support of the new health law, since many lack the resources to fight back in the early stages of the midterm campaign.

Since September, Americans for Prosperity, a group financed in part by the billionaire Koch brothers, has spent an estimated $20 million on television advertising that calls out House and Senate Democrats by name for their support of the Affordable Care Act.

The unusually aggressive early run of television ads, which has been supplemented by other conservative initiatives, has gone largely unanswered, and strategists in both parties agree it is taking a toll on its targets.

Building on the success, the deep-pocketed organization disclosed on Tuesday that it was expanding its Senate efforts with $1.8 million in airtime to attack Democratic House members running for the Senate in Iowa and Michigan, where Democrats are viewed as holding an early advantage. The group was also moving into Montana, a state where Democrats may struggle to defend a seat, on behalf of a Republican House member running for the Senate.

Campaign experts said they believe that the early advertising blitz has driven down the support for Senate incumbents in highly competitive states such as Louisiana and North Carolina that are critical to the Democratic Party’s push to hold its majority.

Some House Democrats in competitive districts find themselves under steady assault with little ability to respond unless they want to dip into money they will need later in the campaign.

“Money spent now is money lost,” said Representative Joe Garcia, a South Florida Democrat who was the target of an ad campaign late last year along with Representative Patrick Murphy, a fellow Floridian. Both are in their first terms, and freshmen incumbents are usually considered the most vulnerable.

Americans for Prosperity has also run ads in competitive districts represented by Democratic House members in Arizona, Minnesota, New Hampshire and West Virginia.

In Colorado and the Florida Panhandle, eyeing districts where Republicans face serious challenges, the organization has airedtelevision spots thanking Republican House members for opposing the health care law. The ads announced Tuesday include one thanking Representative Steve Daines, a Montana Republican seeking a Senate seat.

The group has poured millions of dollars — amounts more typically spent during the closing stages of Senate races — into attacks on the health care stances of Democratic senators such as Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana, Mark Begich of Alaska and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire.

While campaign experts differ on the staying power and impact of advertising that runs many months before voters begin paying closer attention, Democratic strategists say the sheer volume of the ads is a threat.

Conservatives behind the advertising flurry acknowledge that this is an unorthodox effort for this point in the midterms, but the intense polarization over the health care law provides a rare opportunity to shape public opinion and put severe pressure on congressional supporters of the health care law.

“I suspect it is causing an enormous problem for all of these members,” said Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity. “There is an easy solution: Repeal the law and it goes away.”

Democratic strategists say that given a level playing field, they believe their candidates can defend and explain their position on the health care law and fight the issue to at least a draw. But they fear that if the anti-health-law campaign is not checked, it could lock in a hostile midterm environment before some campaigns even get off the ground.

Some Democrats are open about calling for help from allies and supporters of the health care law who may be biding their time.

“Democrats need money at this early stage in order to fight back against the limitless spending from the Kochs,” said Guy Cecil, the executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “As we get closer to the election, we will have the resources to introduce their Tea Party candidates before they have an opportunity to define themselves for voters, but right now the limitless spending from the Kochs means we need Democratic donors to step up in a bigger way immediately.”

The so-called issue ads cannot call for the election or defeat of individual lawmakers, but they generally encourage voters to call lawmakers to register their opposition to the health program.

For example, an ad running in Louisiana as recently as Sunday, called “Doubling Down,” notes that Ms. Landrieu has maintained support for the health care law she originally voted for despite the problems with carrying it out.

“Tell Mary Landrieu doubling down on Obamacare is wrong,” the ad says.

Ads challenging other Democrats, seeming to recognize the Republican Party’s need to broaden its appeal to women, feature a lone woman talking to the camera about negative aspects of the health law and noting the Democratic target’s support of the measure.

There has been limited Democratic response by independent groups in some of the battlegrounds.

Notably, the Senate Majority PAC has countered with television ads against potential Republican contenders in Louisiana and New Hampshire and with ads supporting Ms. Hagan in North Carolina.

The Democratic group, led by allies of Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, is not keeping pace dollar for dollar with Americans for Prosperity. For example, those who closely track ad expenditures say the conservative group has spent about $5 million in North Carolina compared with just under $1.5 million by the Democratic organization. In Louisiana, the comparable estimates are about $1.8 million for the conservatives and $625,000 for the Democratic PAC.

“We absolutely have to keep battling back, and we can’t let ads go unanswered,” said Ty Matsdorf, campaign director for the Democratic PAC.

The leaders of Americans for Prosperity intend to keep up the pressure and in the new ads will turn more to the experiences of Americans dealing with the health law.

“People are moving beyond their frustration with the technology and toward the actual service,” said Levi Russell, a spokesman for the organization. “Obamacare’s more unpopular now than it ever has been, and it’s important to us to emphasize that message of accountability.”

Nicholas Confessore contributed reporting from New York.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Ads Attacking on Health Law Stagger Outspent Democrats. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe