Why House Republicans are pulling their $5 million from a key N.Y. battleground seat

House Republicans are effectively abandoning what was supposed to be a key battleground district in New York over concerns that their candidate, state Sen. Peter Oberacker, is too flawed to seriously compete, sources tell Axios. Why it matters: Expect to see more of this cold calculus as the general election heats up, with both parties determining where their money will actually make enough of a difference to be worth spending. In this case, the GOP has determined that New York's 19th district, a perennial battleground seat that has routinely changed hands between Democrats and Republicans over the last several election cycles, doesn't warrant the investment. The seat, currently held by freshman Rep. Josh Riley (D-N.Y.), was one of the National Republican Congressional Committee's stated targets as recently as last month. Driving the news: Congressional Leadership Fund, House Republicans' main super PAC, removed all its money in the district last week, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact. The group had $4.8 million in television ad reservations supporting Oberacker, all of which were pulled on Friday. The NRCC also removed Oberacker from its "MAGA Majority" list, according to Punchbowl News. The NRCC and CLF did not provide comments on the record for this story. Between the lines: Oberacker is seen by Republicans on Capitol Hill as too flawed a candidate to seriously challenge Riley, according to multiple GOP sources familiar with the matter. One major issue that sources cited is the controversy around a post Oberacker made on Facebook in 2015 praising his grandfather's military service in Nazi Germany. Another is his campaign's cash burn rate: He had raised around $1.2 million as of the end of June but spent nearly $850,000 of it, including $350,000 on consultants, according to campaign finance filings. The Oberacker campaign's spending, one source told Axios, has been a source of behind-the-scenes tension with national Republicans. What we're hearing: "Spending a few million in Upstate New York against Riley — who, ... it's not like he's got a lot of enemies, and he raises money — it's just a hard environment, hard to argue," a Republican source told Axios. Oberacker's "internals have him down ... and then there's the Nazi thing, which is not a killer, but when you add them all up it's like, 'eh,'" the source said. A House Republican told Axios that "those who know New York know the Lawler, Suozzi, and Gillen races were the only ones ever actually considered competitive," referring to swing-district Reps. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) and Laura Gillen (D-N.Y.). The Oberacker campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

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