National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chair Richard Hudson (N.C.) is seeking a second term as head of the House GOP’s campaign arm, ending speculation about his next move and setting the House GOP up to put its stamp of approval on its current leadership team for the next Congress.
His decision comes as House Republicans appear likely to keep control of the lower chamber with a slim majority.
Hudson asked his House GOP colleagues to support him for another term in a letter sent on Sunday, obtained by The Hill.
“History tells us that midterm elections for the party that controls the White House are challenging. We know Democrats will do anything to win,” Hudson said in the letter. “In 2024, they spent $554 million to spread lies about our Members – in this midterm they will spend even more. Without a steady hand and seasoned leadership at the NRCC, Democrats could steal this majority and spend the final two years of President Trump’s term bogging down his agenda with sham investigations and impeachments. We cannot let that happen.”
“That is why I believe I am called to serve you for a second term as your NRCC Chairman,” Hudson said. “Together we can defy history – just like we defied expectations this year.”
Hudson’s name had also been in the mix as a potential chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, particularly if he helped usher in a big GOP win. Current committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) is retiring from Congress at the end of the year, creating a vacancy on the powerful committee.
But two other members, Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) and Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), have long been seeking that slot and building support.
Hudson’s decision means that all of the House GOP’s top leaders are running to stay in their posts for the next Congress, with no challengers having yet emerged before the internal GOP election on Wednesday.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), and conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) have sent out letters to colleagues asking for their support.
Stefanik, though, has been widely expected to take a role in the Trump administration if offered. That would open up a vacancy in the conference chair slot, and prompt another election for the open slot.
Johnson is also not completely in the clear. Though he needs only a majority of the conference to win the nomination to the Speakership, he will need near-unanimous GOP support on the House floor. That could be tricky with the razor-slim majority combined with a handful of House GOP antagonists who unsuccessfully attempted to remove him from the Speakership earlier this year.
There is one contested race for a lower-ranked, obscure leadership position: chair of the Republican Policy Committee. Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) has held the role since 2019 and is seeking another term.
But Palmer is facing a challenge from Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), the outgoing chair of the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative caucus in the House. Hern has public endorsements from several colleagues, including House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.).
Also seeking reelection to their positions are House GOP Vice Chair Blake Moore (R-Utah) — who replaced Johnson after he skyrocketed to the Speakership — and conference Secretary Lisa McClain (R-Mich.).
