The Republican National Committee’s (RNC) attempts to save the majority in the upcoming midterm elections seem to have been faced with scrutiny in the Senate over whether the committee puts too much focus on saving the House majority.
Republican Senators are worried about a story from The Associated Press that reported the RNC’s plan to raise and spend $250 million on a GOP midterm protection plan while quoting RNC Political Director Juston Johnson as saying, “Our No. 1 priority is keeping the House. We have to win the House.”
“I hope the Senate’s factored into that because it’s pretty important we maintain the majority in the Senate, especially when it comes to the President’s picks for his executive agencies and the courts,” Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Thune said this week when asked about the RNC’s plans.
“I know they’re really worried about the House and they’re going to have to spend heavily there, but there are a lot of [Senate] seats that are going to be competitive and expensive,” he added.
Several Republican lawmakers argued that the Senate is in a better position to deal with the possible Democratic majority than the House.
Meanwhile, Speaker Paul Ryan’s announcement of his retirement last week added to the fear in the GOP leadership that the House majority may already have been lost.
However, Republicans in the Senate have better odds at keeping the majority because the GOP is defending just eight seats while Democrats are protecting more than two dozen, out of which 10 are in states that President Donald Trump won by double-digits.
“Ultimately we have a firewall in the Senate,” said a Republican campaign official. “I didn’t see the AP article reflect that. With the seats that are up in the Senate this cycle, we have a very good chance of retaining the majority and adding to it. The same cannot be said about the House.”
The campaign official also stated that Senate Republican strategists are confident that there is an understanding between the White House, the Senate and the House that there will be an almost equal distribution of resources between Senate and House campaigns.
According to The Hill, the source added that there have been regular meetings and “a pretty open dialogue” among senior White House, Senate and House staff over how to divide resources.
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