Five national Republican groups said Wednesday they’re well-positioned to flip control of the Senate and add to their majority in the House in the 2014 midterm elections.
Citing a revamped ground game and data operation, the leaders of various GOP campaign arms are eager for the American public to make a course correction.
“The incompetence of the Obama administration, the incompetence of Harry Reid’s leadership in the Senate has worn thin on the American people,” said Rob Collins, executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “So we just need to provide an alternative that says we can grow our economy, we can create more jobs, we can tackle this debt and we can fix Obamacare.”
Mr. Collins was joined by the leaders of the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, the Republican Governors Association and the Republican State Leadership Conference at a Capitol Hill Club news conference.
Mr. Collins said midterm elections often serve as a referendum on the president’s performance, which is good news, he added, given Mr. Obama’s lackluster job-approval rating, and the fact that incumbent Democrats have few legislative accomplishments of their own to tout on the campaign trail.
“Presidents have lost an average 6.6 seats going back to 1950,” he said, of midterm elections. “So we have history on our side.”
Michael Czin, spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, countered that the GOP’s tactical changes won’t make up for the fact that its message, candidates and policies are out sync with most voters.
“More than a year after their failed rebrand, Republicans continue to double down on the same failed policies that voters have rejected time and again,” Mr. Czin said. “Meanwhile, Democrats continue to focus on policies to jump-start the middle class, like making college more affordable, equal pay, immigration reform and so much more.”
Republicans need to pick up a net of six seats to flip control of the Senate.
The latest election-lab forecast from The Washington Post gives Republicans an 86 percent chance to capture a Senate majority, while the latest forecast from FiveThirtyEight.com predicts Republicans will pick up 5.7 seats.
Republicans are expected to pick up Senate seats in South Dakota, Montana and West Virginia.
They also have set their sights on knocking off incumbent senators in Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana and North Carolina.
Mr. Collins said that he is pleased with the way that the Senate race has tightened in Iowa following the GOP primary last month, and expects the same thing to happen in New Hampshire after the Sept. 9 primary.
On the House side, Liesl Hickey, executive director of the NRCC, the campaign arm of House Republicans, said Republicans were on offense, pointing to the latest breakdown from the Cook Political Report, which showed that of the 13 most competitive House races, 11 of the seats are held by Democrats and just two are held by Republicans.
“The numbers we’re are seeing out of these districts show that Democrats are in real trouble,” Ms. Hickey said.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.