Priebus: Midterms augur well for 2016

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said key GOP victories Tuesday night are a positive sign for the party heading into 2016.

The GOP had success this cycle, particularly in purple states like Colorado and Virginia, because it ran strong candidates and built a better ground game through improving its digital and data operations, he asserted. 

{mosads}“We’re winning the races that we need to win and we’re gonna win tough races that we need to win as well, and that bodes well for the map in 2016,” Priebus said at a news conference Tuesday night at RNC headquarters with the chairmen of the House and Senate GOP campaign committees.

“You have to be able to make the sale that you can get to 270 in the electoral college,” he added. “Well, that means winning a purple state or two in a good environment.”

While he wasn’t popping open the champagne, Priebus predicted the GOP would likely take control of the Senate later on Tuesday night.

“We feel pretty good right now. It’s been a good night so far,” Priebus said.  “We feel like getting to six tonight is clearly in the view and we couldn’t be happier with what’s been happening around the country.”

As he was speaking, Republicans had already picked up five Democratic-held Senate seats, including in Arkansas and Colorado; they need to net just one more to seize the majority.

GOP leaders were asked if they regretted not putting more resources into the Virginia Senate race between Democratic incumbent Mark Warner and former RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie. It’s going down to the wire.

But Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), said the race had always been on the party’s radar. The NRSC had already invested $600,000, and poured more money into it this past weekend.

Moran clearly took pleasure in “the idea that we are doing so well in places like Colorado, that Ed Gillespie is doing so well in Virginia.”

He explained, “This is a great moment for us as Republicans, the ability to win and carry states that are purple and often lean blue.”