Republicans are trying to win back the White House and Senate this year but they are also making the case that voters should return them to the majority in the House of Representatives.
Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress and the White House in 2009 and 2010. Voters did not give them strong reviews, greatly shrinking the Democratic edge in the Senate and handing the GOP a majority in the House with an historic 63-seat gain.
Now the GOP is in the position of arguing for change while asking to stay on as the majority in the House.
“The House voters gave us did its job,” said National Republican Congressional Committee Deputy Chairman Greg Walden, the lone Republican congressman from Oregon. “We, each of the last two years, has passed a budget that puts America not only on the path to not only balancing the budget but paying off the debt.”
Walden says the House has also been very active in rolling back regulations that are harmful to small businesses and approved alternative spending cuts that would prevent huge reductions in military spending. All of those bills are awaiting Senate consideration that is unlikely to come if Democrats maintain the majority in the upper chamber.
Walden says Republicans have ushered in responsibility after two years of Democrats spending recklessly and greatly expanding the size and role of government.
“You do your job, you fix the problem, you move forward. That’s what Speaker Boehner and the leadership in the House has tried to do, and even reached an agreement with the president that the president the next day walked away from” he said, referring to the 2011 debt ceiling negotiations. “It’s really frustrating on our part. We went there to govern. We’re there to govern. We will govern effectively. But we’re not just going to write blank checks to bankrupt the country. I mean that had to stop.”
Redrawn districts from the 2010 U.S. Census mean new boundaries and some states have added seats while others have lost them due to population shifts.
Walden and the NRCC are predicting a GOP gain of 5-7 seats this cycle, which would bring the Republicans close to the huge majority Democrats enjoyed in the previous Congress.
The biggest worries for the NRCC include redrawn districts in left-leaning states like Illinois, where freshmen Reps. Joe Walsh and Robert Dold are facing difficult re-election prospects. California could also be trouble as districts were radically redrawn and many longtime GOP members decided to retire. Walden says that change cuts both ways, and incumbent Democrats are now facing tough challenges there as well.
Republicans are hoping additional seats in Texas and Florida will provide pick-up opportunities. New boundaries in North Carolina also suggest strong Republican gains.
The presidential race is receiving the vast majority of media attention, but Walden is confident his party will win the highest-profile races. Those contests include Mia Love’s campaign against Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson in Utah and the re-election efforts of Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and Florida Rep. Allen West.
