House GOP campaign arm rolls out new leadership team

The House GOP’s campaign arm rolled out new members of its leadership team heading into the 2022 midterm elections as it looks to take back the lower chamber.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) announced Tuesday that Reps. Ken Calvert (Calif.), Jodey Arrington (Texas) and Buddy Carter (Ga.) will serve as deputy chairs behind Rep. Tom Emmer (Minn.), the chair of the body.

None of the new deputy chairs represent competitive seats, but all of their states are anticipated to be on the forefront of the GOP’s campaign to win back the House. 

California is set to lose a seat to redistricting, and Republicans will look to defend some of their 2020 flips in Orange County. Georgia Republicans will also try to take back a seat in the Atlanta suburbs won by Democratic Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux in November. And Texas is set to gain three seats after redistricting, giving the GOP the chance to add to their ranks, particularly given the friendly map the Republican-controlled state government is expected to draw.

While still wracked by divisions over the role former President Trump will play in the future of the party, the GOP is expected to run against President Biden’s agenda, which it says it will cast as radical and catering to the left wing of the Democratic Party. 

“House Republicans stand united in our efforts to retake the House majority and hold Democrats accountable for their job-killing policies,” said Emmer. “We are looking forward to building on the success we saw in 2020 and finishing the job we started.” 

The NRCC also announced an array of vice chairs: Rep. Carol Miller (W.Va.) will lead the NRCC’s recruitment efforts, a plum post particularly after recruitment successes in 2020 led to 15 GOP flips in a cycle when the party was expected to lose as many as 15 members; Rep Mario Diaz-Balart (Fla.) will oversee the NRCC’s involvement in redistricting; Rep. John Katko (N.Y.) will oversee member services; and Rep. Nancy Mace (S.C.) will represent the freshman class, among others.

The NRCC heads into the midterms optimistic it can flip the House in 2022. Democrats already hold the chamber by one of the narrowest margins in modern history, and the party that holds the White House typically loses seats in the first midterm of a new administration. Experts have said that seats gained by redistricting alone may get the GOP halfway to the House majority.