On Tuesday, Politico's Jake Sherman reported that House GOP leadership expressed serious alarm about their prospects for reclaiming the majority in a closed-door strategy meeting at the Capitol Hill Club, citing disastrous fundraising numbers at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).
"They're kicking our ass," said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who noted that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has outraised them by $40 million, and several individual Democratic House challengers are outraising GOP incumbents — not only dimming their hopes of taking back the House, but raising the possibility they could lose even more seats.
NRCC chairman Tom Emmer (R-MN) — whose communications team has come under fire for repeated messaging controversies including mocking various representatives' height, use of marriage counseling, and bereavement, and at one point causing a bomb scare in House offices — agreed, saying, "My intention today is to sound a loud alarm. We can't ignore the campaigns that need to get better with their individual fundraising. ... They're crushing us."
Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-MT), who is leaving Congress to run for governor, was reportedly so alarmed he cut the NRCC a personal check of $250,000.
The NRCC is already facing heavy odds. The House has not changed party control in a presidential election year since 1952. Additionally, the GOP is facing a fresh wave of retirements, including in vulnerable seats in Texas and Georgia, and their congressional gerrymander in North Carolina has been undone, all of which could cost them more seats.
