NRCC pushes lawmakers to raise $26M

By Cameron Joseph - 06/19/12 09:15 AM ET

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is pushing GOP lawmakers to raise $26 million for the committee's campaign coffers as part of a major effort to keep control of the House.

Dubbed the "Battleground," the fundraising push will be spearheaded by Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), The Hill confirmed. Assisting Hensarling will be Reps. John Kline (R-Minn.), Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), Kristi Noem (R-S.D.), Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) and Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.).

The Hill reported last week that more than two dozen Republican chairmen had not given any money from their war chests to the NRCC. The campaign committees on both sides often depend on members as their biggest source of cash.

The NRCC's fundraising drives comes as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has outraised its GOP counterpart, a feat the Dems repeated in May.

The NRCC announced it raised $6 million in May and has added $5.7 million to its fall ad reservations, bringing the overall total to $23.9 million.

The DCCC, meanwhile, announced Tuesday morning that it raised $6.7 million this month. Dems have already reserved $46.1 million in airtime so far, outpacing the NRCC.

The NRCC has $33.8 million cash on hand, leading the DCCC's $27.5 million.

The biggest beneficiary of the new NRCC ad reservations is Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.), whose district became much more competitive in redistricting — the House GOP campaign arm reserved $1.7 million on his behalf in San Diego. The group also put down $1.6 million in Philadelphia, which covers a number of potentially competitive races, and $900,000 against Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.), a top GOP target whose district became much more Republican in redistricting.

Rep. Dan Benishek (R-Mich.) will get $800,000 in air support, Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa) will get a half-million dollars in aid in his race against fellow Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa), and freshman Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) will get $300,000 in help, if the initial reservations aren't changed.

Politico first reported the expanded reservation and new push for donations.

— This story was updated at 10:05 a.m.