The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) announced a $43.5 million ad buy for the fall today. Among that cash is $1.9 million allocated for the Philadelphia media market.

By charting the media buy, it becomes clear that the DCCC is targeting 36 districts this fall, 19 of which they are defending and 17 they are seeking to turn blue. Roll Call provided a complete list of these districts including the two from the Keystone state:

Pennsylvania’s 6th and 8th Districts: Due to overlapping media markets, these buys both play offense against GOP Rep. Michael G. Fitzpatrick in the 8th District, and play offense in the 6th District, open due to GOP Rep. Jim Gerlach’s retirement. The DCCC reserved $1.9 million on Philadelphia broadcast between Oct. 21 and Nov. 4.

“Kevin Strouse and Manan Trivedi are running very strong campaigns and we’re confident that they will be successful in November, but both will undoubtedly face an unprecedented onslaught of spending from billionaire outside groups like the Koch brothers, who want to stack the deck for special interests and the ultra-wealthy at the expense of the middle class,” said DCCC Communications Director Emily Bittner. “We have no intention of letting these shady billionaires’ lies go unanswered.”

“This is a $1.9 million sign of desperation and the clearest indication yet of the uphill climb that liberal Democrats like Manan Trivedi and Kevin Strouse will face in defending ObamaCare and the job destroying policies of Washington Democrats which are putting the squeeze on hard working Pennsylvania families,” countered the NRCC’s Ian Prior.

This buy indicates that PA-6 and PA-8 will be the major goals for Democrats in the commonwealth this year as was indicated back in March when the DCCC declared both of them “emerging districts”.

It is important to note, however, that this investment could still be canceled if the DCCC feels that its Democratic candidates don’t have a realistic chance at victory.

In 2012, for instance, the DCCC had earmarked $1.4 million for then PA-8 nominee Kathy Boockvar, only to withdraw the commitment in mid-October.

Therefore, a good measurement of where the PA-6 and PA-8 races stand will be whether the DCCC fulfills its commitments once we get into the fall.

In PA’s 6th district Chester County Board of Commissioners Chair and GOP nominee Ryan Costello is running against the Democratic nominee, physician Manan Trivedi. In PA-8, Congressman and Republican nominee Mike Fitzpatrick is running against Iraq and Afghan War veteran and Democratic nominee Kevin Strouse.