John Bolton PAC pours more cash into GOP campaigns

John Bolton’s political action commitee will release its second round of funding to House and Senate Republicans on Thursday, as the former United Nations ambassador seeks to boost GOP members aligned with his hawkish foreign policy vision.

The PAC — one of three independent outside groups headed by Bolton — will drop a total of $100,000 into the campaign coffers of 16 Republicans.

{mosads}The list includes establishment Republicans like Reps. Ed Royce (Calif.) and Darrell Issa (Calif.), vulnerable newcomers like Reps. Carlos Curbello (Fla.) and David Young (Iowa), and long-shot GOP Senate candidates in Maryland and New York.

It’s the second round of funding for the Bolton PAC, which has contributed about $300,000 so far this year to about three dozen GOP candidates and lawmakers.

Bolton’s PAC, super-PAC and nonprofit foreign policy advocacy group raised $7 million in 2015, about as much as they raised over the entirety of the 2014 cycle. All the groups are preparing to spend big in 2016. 

The nonprofit foreign policy group Foundation for American Security and Freedom spent money on the presidential race earlier in the cycle, placing ads in newspapers in four early-voting states urging conservatives to nominate a GOP contender who will be strong on national defense. 

Bolton has not yet endorsed a candidate in the presidential primary, “but is carefully monitoring the race and the candidates’ policy positions,” according to a spokesman.

The John Bolton PAC has been spreading its cash around to House and Senate Republicans “who support strong national security policies.” 

A super-PAC with the same name is expected to drop money into battleground states where vulnerable Republican incumbents are seeking reelection. 

The super-PAC has already spent on behalf of Sen. Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire and Sen. Rob Portman in Ohio.

Other Republican House candidates receiving money on Thursday include Reps. French Hill (Ark.), Trent Franks (Ariz.), Dana Rohrabacher (Calif.), Duncan Hunter (Calif.), Mario Díaz-Balart (Fla.), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.), Steve King (Iowa), Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), and Steve Russell (R-Okla.)

In the Senate, the Bolton PAC us supporting Rep. Todd Young’s bid in the Indiana primary, and Republican candidates Richard Douglas in Maryland and Wendy Long in New York.