October 3, 2016 | No Comments
As Speaker Paul Ryan kicks off his final nationwide campaign sprint to protect his House majority, his October itinerary has a few unusual additions: campaign stops for Senate Republicans.
The one-time vice-presidential nominee will use his star power to help raise money and stump for some of his closest friends in the Senate facing competitive reelection races this fall. In the five-week stretch before Election Day, Ryan is headed to Pennsylvania to help his former roommate, Pat Toomey; to Missouri to raise money for Roy Blunt; and back to his home state of Wisconsin for a string of appearances with Ron Johnson.
Ryan has already sent emails soliciting campaign cash, transferred money and had fundraisers to help Republican Senate hopefuls.
His efforts underscore Ryan’s view that a Congress under full GOP control is crucial to passing conservative legislation and promoting his agenda, sources close to him say. It also suggests he feels confident enough about his party’s House prospects that he’s willing to juggle the much bigger challenge of maintaining the party’s tenuous hold on the Senate.
Republicans, who currently boast the largest House majority since the 1930s, are expected to lose seats but keep control of the chamber. The fate of the Senate is far less certain: Republicans are defending more than twice as many seats as Democrats, many in blue and purple states.
Ryan gives vulnerable Senate Republicans a well-known national figure to stump alongside in a year when most of them have kept their distance from Donald Trump, even as they endorse the GOP nominee. Polls show Ryan is more popular among Republicans than his Senate counterpart, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). In July, the Gallup Poll showed Ryan has a 71 percent favorability rating among Republicans. Gallup reported in October 2015 that just 30 percent of the GOP had a favorable view of McConnell, who is raising money and doing his own travel to keep the Senate majority.
Many of Ryan’s Senate stops align with states he’s already visiting for House members. He’ll help Toomey in Pennsylvania when he’s there attending events for Rep. Ryan Costello and first-time candidate Lloyd Smucker, who’s running to replace retiring Rep. Joe Pitts. In Wisconsin, he’ll hit the road for Johnson as well as hopeful Mike Gallagher, who’s running to replace retiring Rep. Reid Ribble.
Ryan has exerted the most energy for a Senate candidate in his home state, on behalf of Johnson, the underdog against former Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold. Ryan has already sent multiple fundraising solicitations for Johnson, while appearing alongside him at campaign stops around the state.
Ryan has a campaign swing scheduled with the GOP senator during the first week of November, a Johnson campaign aide said.
“Ron appreciates Paul Ryan’s support and the work he’s done with his ‘Better Way’ agenda to take on Washington dysfunction and get our country on the right track,” said Johnson campaign spokesman Brian Reisinger, referring to Ryan’s policy agenda, which has offered Republicans a message to run on.
The House remains Ryan’s primary focus, with most of the 42 events in 17 states centering on his own chamber.
In early October, Ryan will fly to Michigan to help former Lt. Gen. Jack Bergman attempt to win retiring Rep. Dan Benishek’s seat. The speaker is also headed to South Florida to help incumbent Rep. Carlos Curbelo, one of the most vulnerable Republicans up for reelection this year. Then, he’ll be in Texas for events with Rep. Will Hurd, whose Latino-heavy district hasn’t taken well to Trump’s comments about minorities.
The speaker will also help House hopefuls running for open seats, including John Faso of New York and Don Bacon of Nebraska. And Ryan plans to stump for candidates across the GOP’s ideological spectrum, helping hopefuls ranging from moderates like Reps. Mike Coffman of Colorado and David Valadao of California to Freedom Caucus conservatives Rod Blum of Iowa and Scott Garrett of New Jersey.
Ryan’s October push for Senate candidates builds upon significant efforts in recent months.
In September, he traveled to Indiana to host a fundraiser for Rep. Todd Young, who sat on the influential House Ways and Means Committee when Ryan chaired it. Young is battling former Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) in a close race to replace retiring Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.).
Ryan has also lent his fundraising muscle to Senate colleagues, sending out emails for Young, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), among other candidates. (He plans to campaign with Portman in Ohio this month.)
At a fundraising breakfast in early August, Ryan raised over $415,000 for Rep. Joe Heck, who is running for Harry Reid’s seat in Nevada, and another vulnerable House GOP candidate. His political entities have maxed out campaign transfers to 13 senators or Senate candidates.
Democrats, who’ve tried in the past to run against Ryan and his controversial Medicare overhaul proposal, dismiss the speaker’s efforts to boost Senate candidates.
“If vulnerable Republican senators would like to invite the author of the plan to turn Medicare into a voucher program and raise costs for seniors and other hardworking families, it wouldn’t be the first bad decision they make,” said Sadie Weiner, spokeswoman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.