On Wednesday, Republican senators and senators-elect chose Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) as the next chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). Daines will take over in January from Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who it is no secret failed at his task of getting more Republicans elected.
Sen. Daines spoke with Townhall the very next day on Capitol Hill about his plans, while also acknowledging that mistakes were made in 2022 and that lessons need to be learned.
While Daines touted his decades of experience in the private sector, he did so from the perspective of speaking what those lessons. In business, Daines shared, "you always analyze what went right and what didn't go so well," which is what he looks to do in his new role. He looks forward to "taking a look at what happened in great detail, and really develop what I call 'a lessons learned,'" though the senator offered "it's still early."
That's not to say that the senator isn't committed to the role he is about to take on. Presently, their priority is getting Republican Herschel Walker elected as he looks to unseat Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) in next month's runoff election. If Warnock wins reelection, Democrats will have expanded their majority in the Senate to 51 seats. If Walker prevails, Democrats will remain in the majority, but by much slimmer margins, with Vice President Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaking vote.
When promoted as to what he thinks specifically wrong, Daines pointed out it was as simple as them not getting more votes than the Democrats. "We fell short in some key races," he conceded, "clearly this wasn't the night that we thought it was going to be."
Given President Joe Biden's low approval ratings as well as voter sentiment about the direction of the country, Republicans were largely expected to gain more seats than they did, in both chambers. That they did not is surprising and disappointing not only as a matter of what the polls said, but historic precedence.
Specifically, Daines offered that Independents did not break for Republicans this cycle, as they did by double digits in 2010 and 2014. Rather, they broke for Democrats, by just a few but nevertheless race-changing percentage points. "We've got to understand why that happened."
Given that the base turnout was high for both Democrats and Republicans, the lesson here is truly about courting independent voters, who "made the difference in these close races."
As clearheaded as Daines may be about his plan for 2024, Republican voters and no doubt at least some rank-and-file members are in need of encouragement. Daines offered that encouragement by calling for unity in the Republican Party, as he quoted Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC).
This Sen. Scott, Daines pointed out, offering he agrees with him, has said that "the road to socialism runs through a divided Republican Party." Daines emphasized "we have got to unite and come together," assuring "we'll find out the lessons learned."
Further, Daines did call to mind that Republicans have indeed captured their majority back in the House.
The 2024 landscape, overall, is a much different story. Daines will be in charge of electing members when it comes to a map that is more favorable to the Republican Party. Turnout will also be higher, given that it is a presidential year, making it even more important "to unify as a party." As Daines soberly reminded, "the stakes could not be higher for 2024 for this country for the short term and for the long term."