Boehner: GOP needs more money, organization before November

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said his party needs to raise more more money and get organized before the November election.

The GOP suffered a setback Tuesday night when its candidate lost the special election for former Rep. John Murtha's (D-Pa.) seat. The party had invested heavily into the race and billed it as a referendum on national Democrats. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) spent close to $1 million supporting businessman Tim Burns’s (R) campaign.

Boehner told reporters Wednesday that “it’s pretty clear that we have to organize and we’ve got to continue working on our agenda project. … We’ve got to continue to raise resources.”

The top-ranking House Republican explained that Burns was at a disadvantage because the “fact is that this is a Democratic district and (there were) two big statewide Dem primaries.”

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) carried the district by one point in 2008. Murtha had held it for 19 terms.

But Boehner praised Burns, who will be the Republican candidate for the seat in the November general election.

“I’ve got to give him a lot of credit, he ran a very good campaign. I think Tim Burns is our candidate for November and I feel very good,” Boehner said.

It was the seventh special election Republicans have lost since President Barack Obama took office. Republicans had tried to make the race about Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who are unpopular in the district. But Democrat Mark Critz, a former Murtha staffer, prevailed with comfortable margins, winning with 53 percent to Burns's 45 percent.

Boehner explained that his party has had a tough time winning these special elections given “the financial disadvantage we have now,” noting that “we’ve got to do better.”

The NRCC has struggled with fundraising this cycle, and the Republican National Committee has promised to add its resources to help the party win back control of Congress.

GOP leaders have predicted that their party will win back control of the House in November. Boehner has said that at least 100 seats are “competitive.” Republicans would need to win 40 seats to win the majority.

Boehner pinned GOP chances to the Republicans' so-called “agenda project,” an effort to produce a list of agenda items his party would pursue if they reclaim control of the lower-chamber, based loosely on 1994's Contract with America.

Deputy GOP Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was tasked to lead the effort by “listening to the American people.” Boehner said details would be revealed “this week or next” about the listening aspect, while the actual rollout of the project would not happen until after Labor Day.

“We’re going to work hard, work with the American people and earn the trust of the people because that’s the way we win back the majority,” Boehner said.