CLEVELAND – Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), the man who in 2014 led the Republican Party to its biggest House majority since 1928, is certain Republicans will keep the House in the fall no matter what happens at the top of the ticket.
When asked if Republicans would keep the House, Walden responded in a single word.
“Yes.”
As chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, Walden’s job is to get Republicans elected to the House and keep them there. While he is bullish on the House GOP’s prospects, he is not as certain, however, Trump will be sworn in as president in January.
“I think he has every opportunity to win the general election, but we know in America the country’s pretty divided. These elections aren’t landslides. This isn’t 1984 and Ronald Reagan is going to win 49 states so it will be a competitive, competitive election,” Walden said during an event hosted by the Atlantic in Cleveland. ” I think we are seeing that in the polling when you get down to the states that will really be the battlegrounds, it’s very competitive or tied right now.”
Unlike the Republican-held Senate, which is hanging in the balance this cycle, the House is considered much safer for Republican control. Gerrymandered districts put the number of competitive races at just about two dozen, and opportunities for Democrats to run the table are still fairly slim even with tumult at the top.
Trump has struggled to build out grassroots infrastructure and raise money, but polls in the swing states like Florida and Ohio still show Trump holding on. As the chairman of the NRCC, Walden tried to downplay Trump’s abysmal organization and fundraising apparatus, arguing that the RNC has improved on building out its data collection, polling and digital game. But, ultimately, Walden said the NRCC has always been ready to go it alone if it had to.
“We know in the House we have to take care of ourselves. By the way, that strategy does works,” Walden said noting that in 2012 – a year Obama won– the House Republicans only lost 8 seats.
“We know we have to be able to operate on our own if need be,” Walden said.
As David Wasserman, a political analyst with the Cook Political Report pointed out in a later panel, more than a quarter of the House Republican conference still has not endorsed Trump, a whopping number. But, Walden said he was comfortable letting his members run their own campaigns no matter what that looked like.
“The candidates get to do whatever they want,” Walden said. “And you will see in many cases, we have members and candidates who are openly embracing the nominee.”
