RNC expands field program to record 500 staffers ahead of midterms

The Republican National Committee (RNC) is beefing up its field program five months out from the midterms, expanding its number of staffers on the ground to a record 500 across the country.

The staffers will be stationed in 27 states, including all of the battleground states with marquee Senate and House races. It’s the largest number of staffers the RNC has had at this point in any previous election cycle.

While the committee has focused on hiring field organizers this month, these RNC staffers will also take on roles like state directors, deputy state directors, regional field directors, communications directors and data directors.

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The RNC is holding a “National Day of Action” on Saturday, which coincides with the third anniversary of President Trump announcing his candidacy.

On Saturday, the committee’s state teams will hold hundreds of training sessions and train 2,000 volunteers before they start canvassing. The committee has also trained over 15,000 fellows as part of its Republican Legislative Initiative (RLI).

“When I met with then-candidate Donald Trump on his first visit to Michigan, I saw that he was determined to do things differently. He showed up, his message resonated with voters, and their enthusiasm led Michigan to flip ‘red’ for the first time since 1988,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel said in a statement to The Hill.

“We are building on that enthusiasm this cycle. We will have the biggest ground game in our Party’s history. We are not leaving a single vote unturned and we are ready to defy the odds this November.”

The RNC has been active throughout the cycle as Republicans brace for a challenging midterm. The president’s party historically loses seats in his first midterm election.

Republicans are looking to protect their House majority as Democrats aim to flip 23 seats. Republicans also need to defend their slim 51-seat majority in the Senate, but they have better prospects in the upper chamber with Democrats defending 10 seats in states that Trump won in 2016.

Earlier this year, the committee launched a multimillion-dollar effort to drum up support for the GOP’s tax overhaul and target vulnerable Democratic incumbents who voted against the bill.

The RNC has been a fundraising powerhouse, consistently outpacing the Democratic National Committee (DNC) since last May. The RNC ended April with $43.8 million cash on hand, compared to the DNC’s $8.7 million.