Republican Third-Party Groups Advertising In Washington State

Outside Republican groups have been spending millions to expand the map for Mitt Romney in states that have historically leaned Democratic and seem likely to remain in President Obama's camp. Publicly, that list has included Minnesota, Michigan and Pennsylvania. It appears, however, they are also going more quietly into other states.

One of those groups, American Crossroads, has announced plans for a $4.5 million national network television ad buy. But a Democratic source in Washington, who requested anonymity to avoid involvement in the presidential campaign, emailed HuffPost to say anti-Obama ads were running on three Seattle broadcast stations in "high volume" on Friday morning, including during "Today" and "Good Morning America." The American Crossroads ad that the group said it was airing nationally wasn't the one that the source saw. Additionally, some of those ads were seen on Seattle broadcast stations.

The other two groups advertising, according to the source, were Restore our Future, the Romney supporting super PAC, and the conservative group Americans for Jobs Security.

The groups did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Washington is not even close to being considered a swing state. The decision to air ads in the market may be a sign that these groups have more money than they know what to do with, or they may be part of an effort to affect down-ballot contests. The source speculated, "The *only* thing I can fathom is driving down coattails to help in a close governor's race ... but even that doesn't make much sense to me."