An outside group backed by House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is expanding their field operation and opening six new offices in key battleground House districts as House Republicans look to maintain their majority in November.
The Congressional Leadership Fund announced Friday that they are opening new offices in Texas, Kansas, North Carolina, and Illinois, growing the number of field offices to 40 nationwide — including to protect seats currently held by Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kansas, whom Republicans hope to replace with Steve Watkins, and Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, chairman of the House Rules Committee.
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“Committed to doing things differently this midterm election cycle, CLF has now opened 40 field offices and made over 18 million targeted voter contacts across the country as part of our national field program,” said Corry Bliss, CLF’s executive director, in a statement.
“With over 6,000 CLF interns and volunteers, we’re knocking on doors and making calls to ensure voters know how their member of Congress is getting results for them, and we’ve been doing this since February 2017. CLF will continue these efforts throughout the fall as we work to ensure Nancy Pelosi does not become speaker,” Bliss said.
According to CLF, each office is staffed by a full-time field organizer and hundreds of interns and volunteers.
The news comes two days after congressman-elect Troy Balderson claimed a narrow victory over Danny O’Connor in Ohio’s 12th Congressional District in a race Republicans went all-in to keep, including a visit by President Trump and an endorsement by Gov. John Kasich.
Republicans currently hold a 23-seat advantage in the lower chamber and are facing a revved-up Democratic base who hopes to retake the majority for the first time since losing it in 2010. According to the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, Democrats remain “soft favorites” to win back the majority.
