http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/223424-rnc-chairman-louisiana-runoff-will-be-ground-game-on-steroidsNovember 08, 2014, 10:52 am
RNC chairman: Louisiana runoff will be ‘ground game on steroids’
By Sarah Ferris
The Republican National Committee is firing up a major offensive against Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) ahead of next month’s runoff election, its chairman said Friday.
“We are descending on Louisiana, and we’re going to put the ground game on steroids and really have some fun,” Reince Priebus said in an interview with talk show host Hugh Hewitt.
He said the RNC has flown 220 full-time staffers to promote Republican nominee Rep. Bill Cassidy, buying up hotels and car rentals. He said that dwarfs Landrieu’s on-the-ground effort, which has largely taken place without help from national Democrats.
The Democratic campaign arm canceled a multi-million dollar ad buy this week, and Priebus said he hasn't seen "a single ad pro-Landrieu booked in Louisiana" from any other groups.
“I don’t know exactly how she’s going to compete,” Preibus said, who is mulling a third term as RNC chairman.
The head-to-head matchup is likely to be tough, according to a recent poll by NBC/Marist, which projected Cassidy to receive 50 percent of the vote and Landrieu to receive about 45 percent.
While Landrieu picked up thousands more votes than Cassidy in this week’s election, she was only ahead by about 2 percentage points.
GOP groups have already spent millions in its effort to unseat Landrieu, one of several vulnerable red state Democrats this election cycle.
The groups have reserved at least $5 million in TV time ahead of the Dec. 6 runoff.
