The 2014 elections aren’t quite wrapped up yet, but the jockeying for 2016 has already begun.
Three of the four congressional committees will have new chairmen in the coming weeks, as House and Senate Democratic leaders look to pick new campaign heads and Senate Republicans move to select a leader to replace current National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Jerry Moran (Kan.).
{mosads}Here’s a look at how those races are shaping up.
NATIONAL REPUBLICAN SENATORIAL COMMITTEE
The battle to be National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman is the best defined and likely the first to be decided as Senate Republicans seek to hold on to their newfound majority.
2016 won’t be an easy task though: Republicans are defending 24 seats to Democrats’ 10, including races in blue and purple states they won in 2010 such as Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Florida.
Sens. Roger Wicker (Miss.) and Dean Heller (Nev.) are squaring off to lead the committee. Both are making moves for the slot and have been calling colleagues for a vote that will take place Thursday morning.
Wicker has been quietly lobbying for the job for weeks, sending a letter to his GOP colleagues on the day after the elections laying out his credentials. That includes the $2.2 million he raised for the committee this cycle and the $1 million he helped bring in for his home-state colleague Sen. Thad Cochran (Miss.) as Cochran pulled off a come-from-behind primary runoff win.
“Our first objective should be to protect the majority and ensure that Republican seats stay Republican,” Wicker wrote in the letter to his colleagues. “I know that one of the keys to achieving that objective will be a concerted effort to raise early money and a lot of it, creating as clear a path as possible to the nomination, and having everyone in the Republican Conference involved and committed to keeping the majority.”
A strike against Wicker, however, is that the Magnolia State doesn’t have a big donor base. But the senator does have close ties to influential former Republican National Committee Chairman and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, which could be a boon for his fundraising pitch to members and the network he could bring to the job.
Heller hasn’t been as public about his push but has been quietly talking to his colleagues as well. He has close ties to Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, a top GOP recruiting target as they hope to knock soon-to-be Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) from office. The Nevadan also has good relationships with GOP mega-donors Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn.
DEMOCRATIC SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE
Reid will pick the replacement for outgoing Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chairman Michael Bennet (Colo.), just as the two gear up for what could be competitive reelections of their own.
Sens. Chris Coons (Del.) and Jon Tester (Mont.) are both in the mix, with Coons publicly mulling interest in the position and Tester’s office not denying rumors that he’s interested.
“Coons and Tester are actively talking to people about doing it,” said one Democratic aide.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) is also thought of as a potential candidate, though she hasn’t publicly showed any interest.
Spokesmen for Reid, Coons and Klobuchar didn’t return requests for comment. Tester Communications Director Marneé Banks said, “At this time we don’t have a comment about the DSCC rumors that are circulating.”
It’s unclear when Reid will make his selection, though it could come during Thursday’s leadership elections.
DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE
With current Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman (DCCC) Steve Israel (N.Y.) passing on a third term, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) will choose the next chairman, who has the unenviable task of trying to lead the Democrats out of the minority.
It’s unclear whom she’s leaning toward, and Pelosi’s office is not commenting on potential candidates. An aide said she’s “keeping this decision close to her vest” and indicated a decision wouldn’t be announced until after she wins reelection as minority leader next Tuesday.
The long list of potential names includes Reps. Jim Himes (Conn.), Donna Edwards (Md.), Jared Polis (Colo.) and Lois Frankel (Fla.), all of whom have held previous leadership roles with the DCCC. Rep. Joaquín Castro (Texas), a fast-rising freshman, is also in the mix, while fellow freshman Rep. Joseph Kennedy (Mass.) has been mentioned as well.
Whoever wins will likely have a better climate in 2016 to help Democrats climb out of, at least, a 28-seat hole. With fewer swing districts and a gerrymandered map, however, it’s still a tough road for Democrats to win back a majority any time soon.
NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE
National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Greg Walden (Ore.) has already announced his plans to stay on for another term, and his potential opponents have faded into the woodwork following the GOP’s big wins last week.
Freshman Rep. Roger Williams (Texas), who’d threatened to challenge Walden, called him up after the elections to congratulate him and say he wouldn’t be mounting a challenge. Rep. Aaron Schock (Ill.) had also been rumored to be interested in a bid, but has made little noise about that for some time, and no other candidate has stepped forward.
Assuming Walden retains his position, he’ll be tasked with defending the party’s largest majority in nearly a century in a year not likely to be as hospitable to the GOP as this one was. A top goal will be to catch up to the DCCC’s online fundraising prowess.