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“If we are to become the majority party – which I think we will – you have to accept that we are a big tent,” LaHood said, adding that Republicans in Peoria, Ill. Are different from those in Florida. , New York or California. “I’ve tried to take that philosophy and that attitude of this is how we will become the majority party.”
He added, “I’m looking at our newly arrived freshman class, and that diversity is what we need to build.”
Representatives Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) And eight other House Republicans who broke with their party last month to support Trump’s second impeachment have faced reprimands from their own ranks and censorship on the part of state party officials. The GOP’s embrace – or the distance from – Trump has created a national schism for the party. But LaHood, who won Trump’s approval last fall but avoided criticizing his colleagues in the House, compartmentalized that.
LaHood did not directly address the divide around Trump within the party, but he acknowledged, “There is a lot at stake.
Republicans are only a handful of seats out of House control, and when asked if the NRCC would fund the re-election campaigns of the 10 Republicans who voted for impeachment, LaHood said “absolutely.”
He said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and NRCC Chairman Tom Emmer asked him to take on this role, “and I’m proud to be working with them and the rest of our team, y including [Reps.] Liz Cheney and Steve Scalise. “
Still, LaHood said he had not spoken to Kinzinger – who launched a PAC to fight Trumpism in the GOP and has consistently denounced the former president since the Jan.6 attack on the U.S. Capitol – and largely avoided discussing his fellow Illinois Republican. The NRCC also has a long-standing policy of staying out of the primaries and simply supporting Republican voters choose for the general election.
Taking on the NRCC gig has another perk for LaHood, the son of President Barack Obama’s first transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, a Republican: he hasn’t ruled out a possible nomination for governor of Illinois.
But for now, he says, he’s focused on fundraising for the GOP. The congressman is a skilled fundraiser, with over $ 3.5 million in the bank – a hefty sum for a Republican in deep blue state. It also hosted the NRCC Spring Dinner 2019, the organization’s largest annual fundraiser.
“The fact that we have not lost a holder [in 2020] It’s pretty amazing, and then take all the seats we’ve done, so our job at NRCC is to protect our incumbents, and the money that we help raise will go to that, ”LaHood said.
The NRCC has also appointed Representative Carol Miller from West Virginia to lead the group’s recruiting efforts.
LaHood, a former federal prosecutor, considers Trump a friend. He was co-chair of Trump’s re-election bid and stood as a delegate for him.
Earlier this week, the NRCC released a list of 47 House Democrats they hope to withdraw next year.
Emmer says the goal will be to talk about what interests regular voters, such as the reopening of schools. He rejected the Democrats’ strategy of tying Republicans to QAnon’s conspiracy theory and anything associated with the Capitol Riots.
Midterm elections have historically been a drag on the ruling party, and LaHood is making banks that “will be good news for us”.
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