Glowing in the aftermath of big GOP victories in the midterm, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus nevertheless said his party has more work to do and has to be near “perfect” in 2016 to win the White House.
Priebus, speaking Friday to reporters at the Christian Science Monitor breakfast, credited the RNC’s $100 million data and field operation for helping the GOP win the Senate, gain House seats and add to its control of governor’s mansions and state houses. But Priebus conceded that Democrats could hold the advantage in 2016, with more guaranteed votes in the Electoral College and an expanded electorate that has recently favored progressive candidates.
“We’re going to build on our successes in 2014 so that we can have a successful 2016,” Priebus said. “I want to make one other thing clear,” he added, “I also haven’t lost my mind to think that we don’t have a long way to go.”
Priebus said he is leaning toward running for a third term as RNC chairman. His current two-year term expires in January.
The Republicans on Tuesday flipped seven Democratic-held Senate seats, and could finish with a nine-seat gain by the time the Alaska race is called and Louisiana votes in a December runoff. The GOP hit the high end of forecasts for pick-ups in the House, expanding their majority in the lower chamber to the historic level of at least 246 seats, with races still left to call. The party also won gubernatorial races in blue states like Massachusetts, Maryland and Illinois, President Obama’s home state.
Obama’s approval ratings were down and Democratic voters dispirited. But Democratic turnout efforts still were effective at getting low-propensity midterm voters to the polls in competitive Senate battlegrounds. The Republicans, however, followed suit, and their new data and field programs are credited with making sure that close Senate contests fell their way despite higher Democratic turnout, particularly in North Carolina, where Sen.-elect Thom Tillis overcame a massive resource deficit to defeat Sen. Kay Hagan by 1.7 percentage points.
“The wave we didn’t think was inevitable,” Priebus said. “If we had not been laser focused on turning out low propensity voters in states like Iowa and Colorado, we would have not been victorious. Our ground game mattered, our unprecedented investment in data mattered.”
