NRCC leadership
The NRCC is always chaired by a Republican member of the House, who may serve up to two consecutive terms. It is governed by an Executive Committee of 11 members, which includes the Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, party's Leader in the House ''ex officio'', and other members elected by the Republican Conference following a House election. The Chairman is elected by the House Republican Conference after each congressional election. The eight elected leaders of the Republican Conference of the House of Representatives serve as ''ex officio'' members of the NRCC's executive committee. The day-to-day operations of the NRCC are overseen by the Executive Director, who manages a staff involved in campaign strategy development, planning and management, research, digital, communications, fundraising, administration, and legal compliance. In addition to the Chairman, several other members of the House of Representatives aid the efforts of the Committee by overseeing various areas important to the NRCC. The NRCC is broken down into several internal divisions: Executive, Treasury, Research, Political, Finance, Communications, and Digital.List of chairs
Programs
Young Guns program
Founded in the 2007–2008 election cycle by Congressmen Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy (California politician), Kevin McCarthy and Paul Ryan (politician), Paul Ryan, the Young Guns program began as an organization of House Republicans dedicated to electing open seat and challenger candidates nationwide. During the 2008 cycle, through a partnership of Republican volunteers, donors and 59 members of the House of Representatives, five House GOP challengers won against incumbent Democrats. Four of those were Young Guns – Tom Rooney (Florida politician), Tom Rooney (FL-16), Bill Cassidy, Bill Cassidy (LA-06), Lynn Jenkins, Lynn Jenkins (KS-02), and Pete Olson, Pete Olson (TX-22).About young guns. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.gopyoungguns.com/about Under the leadership of Chairman Sessions, the NRCC adopted the Young Guns program as the candidate recruitment and training program for House Republicans. It is designed to assist Republican candidates for the House of Representatives. This program is open to all Republican candidates – regardless of a primary or convention situation in their districts – with the ultimate goal of ensuring whoever the Republican nominee is, they are able to build the strongest campaign possible. Those enrolled work with NRCC staff to meet rigorous benchmarks designed to improve their campaign structure, fundraising, communications and online strategy. There are three levels of the Young Guns program – "On the Radar," "Contender," and "Young Gun." In 2010, 92 campaigns were granted "Young Gun" status.Patriot Program
Following the 2008 United States House of Representatives elections, the NRCC revamped its incumbent protection program, renaming it the Patriot Program. Candidates given the "patriot" designation are provided additional funding and organizational assistance for their reelection campaigns. Candidates in the Patriot Program represent key districts and are perceived as vulnerable due to the likelihood of a close contest in their upcoming elections. In 2010, nine of the ten candidates endorsed by the Patriot Program won reelection. The candidates endorsed by the Patriot Program in 2010 were Rep. Dan Lungren (CA-03), Rep. Ken Calvert (CA-44), Rep. Brian Bilbray (CA-50), Rep. Judy Biggert (IL-13), Rep. Joseph Cao (LA-02), Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (MI-11), Rep. Erik Paulsen (MN-03), Rep. Leonard Lance (NJ-07), Rep. Chris Lee (New York politician), Christopher Lee (NY-26), and Rep. Dave Reichert (Wa-08). In 2012, seven of the ten candidates endorsed by the Patriot Program won reelection. The candidates endorsed by the Patriot Program in 2012 were Rep. Sean Duffy (WI-07), Rep. Allen West (politician), Allen West (FL-22), Rep. Lou Barletta (PA-11), Rep. Pat Meehan (PA-07), Rep. Frank Guinta (NH-01), Rep. Joe Heck (NV-03), Rep. Quico Canseco, Quico "Francisco" Canesco (TX-23), Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-08), and Rep. Tom Latham (politician), Tom Latham (IA-03). In 2018, only four of the ten candidates endorsed by the Patriot Program won reelection with the other six either losing or retiring. The candidates endorsed by the Patriot Program in 2018 were Rep. David Valadao (CA-21), Rep. Steve Knight (politician), Steve Knight (CA-25), Rep. Darrell Issa (CA-49), Rep. Brian Mast (FL-18), Rep. Jason Lewis (congressman), Jason Lewis (MN-02), Rep. John Faso (NY-19), Rep. Claudia Tenney (NY-22), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (American politician), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-08), Rep. Will Hurd (TX-23), and Rep. Barbara Comstock (VA-10). In 2020, all ten candidates endorsed by the Patriot Program won reelection. The candidates endorsed by the Patriot Program in 2020 were Rep. Fred Upton (MI-06), Rep. Don Bacon (NE-02), Rep. Lee Zeldin (NY-01), Rep. John Katko (NY-24), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (American politician), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Rep. Michael McCaul (TX-10), Rep. Pete Olson (TX-22), Rep. Will Hurd (TX-23), Rep. John Carter (Texas politician), John Carter (TX-31), and Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA-03).Fundraising
In 2000 and 2002, one-third of the committee's $210.8 million raised was in soft money donations. The committee held record-breaking events featuring President of the United States, President George W. Bush. After the ban of soft money donations, the NRCC's fundraising sources and techniques have been criticized. For the 2004 election cycle, its top three donors included two Indian tribal clients of Jack Abramoff. Others include gambling interests (also related to Abramoff). On September 21, 2006 Chairman Tom Reynolds met with lobbyists in Washington, D.C. to warn them to contribute only to Republicans and not to challengers from the Democratic Party because their donations would be tracked and they would lose favors among the Republican members of Congress. Similar activities of the K Street Project occurred when Davis was head of the NRCC; the organization was fined by the Federal Election Commission for transferring funds between PACs for the same candidates in violation of contribution limits. The NRCC has also offered awards such as "Physician of the Year", "Businessman of the Year", "Columnist of the Year" and "Congressional Order of Merit" to very few individuals each year.Washington Post archiveAutomated phone calls
In 2006, just days before the November 7 midterm congressional elections, there were numerous reports of a series of automated phone calls ("robocalls") being authorized by the NRCC, with the apparent intention to confuse and annoy the supporters of Democratic candidates for the House of Representatives. The automated call would typically begin by saying, "Hello, I'm calling with information about ___" and naming the Democratic candidate. If the recipient hung up, the call would be repeated, often several times, thus leading voters to believe incorrectly that the Democratic campaign was harassing them. The NRCC used the tactic in at least 53 competitive House races. In New Hampshire, the state attorney general's office requested that the NRCC end the robocalls, but many individuals in the state continued to report receiving them. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent the NRCC a Cease and desist, cease-and-desist letter. The DCCC letter cited the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation requiring that a prerecorded telephone call must identify the responsible entity at the beginning of the message, and must include the entity's telephone number. Because the NRCC's calls did not name the NRCC at the beginning and did not provide a contact phone number, the DCCC charged the NRCC with "a pattern of willful noncompliance with FCC requirements".Embezzlement
On March 13, 2008 the NRCC stated that its former treasurer, Christopher J. Ward, had apparently transferred "several hundred thousand dollars" in NRCC funds to "his personal and business bank accounts". An estimated $724,000 in losses were embezzled from the NRCC by Ward between 2001 and 2007.Bresnahan, JohnRecent elections
2008 congressional elections
In 2008 the NRCC concentrated on trying to help incumbent Republicans win re-election. Even so, the committee had to make "triage"-type decisions about allocating its funds. In October 2008, it canceled several hundred thousand dollars worth of television advertising time slated for the re-election campaigns of Michele Bachmann, Marilyn Musgrave, and Tom Feeney, having concluded that they could not win. The decision drew criticism from the Conservatism, conservative Family Research Council, which stated, "It appears that the NRCC is abandoning social conservative candidates and the issues for which they stand…." Bachmann was the only one of those three who was successfully re-elected, winning a plurality of 46% of the vote in a three-way race.2010 congressional elections
In 2010, Republican candidates won a historic number of seats in the House of Representatives. Rep. Sessions and the NRCC staff received praise for harnessing voter sentiment and contributing to Republican gains. The NRCC raised and spent tens of millions of dollars on independent expenditure advertising. Republicans won in 52 of the 66 seats where the NRCC made those expenditures. The NRCC made some of its biggest gains in New York, where two incumbents won reelection and five seats flipped from being held by Democrats to being held by Republicans. In Pennsylvania, the Committee retained seven incumbents and flipped five seats from being held by Democrats to being held by Republicans. The Committee made gains across the midwest, where it won control of both North and South Dakota, and made sizeable gains in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The Committee targeted numerous veteran Democrats who held important posts in their party's leadership. The NRCC worked to help GOP candidates defeat Committee Chairmen John Spratt (Budget), Ike Skelton (Armed Services), and James Oberstar (Transportation and Infrastructure). In each of these cases, Republicans prevailed over the Democrats.Hananel, S (2010, Nov. 4) Three top committee chairmen are ousted http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/11/04/three_top_committee_chairmen_are_ousted/See also
* National Republican Senatorial Committee * Democratic Congressional Campaign CommitteeReferences
External links
*