Georgia lawmakers hit road to campaign for party colleagues

Those not facing challenges at the ballot box lend hand.

U.S. Rep. Doug Collins may represent a 20-county swath of northeast Georgia, but the three-term Republican spent the first week of Congress’ Easter recess more than 800 miles away, traversing a cross section of Missouri and Kansas with colleagues from the U.S. House.

Collins is not locked in a competitive race. The No. 5 House Republican faces two long-shot Democratic challengers this year in a district that’s among the most conservative in the country.

So he plans to spend a good chunk of 2018 on the road, aiding GOP colleagues in tighter races as part of a broader effort to defend his party’s House majority.

“We recognize that it’s going to be a tough, competitive election cycle, but I’m committed, especially as the vice chair of the House, to continue taking the message (of what) we’ve done in Washington and helping our folks get re-elected,” he said in a recent interview.

Across the aisle, U.S. Rep. John Lewis is doing the same thing.

The Atlanta Democrat is the only Georgia congressman not facing an opponent at the ballot box this year, so the 78-year-old is teeing up a busy travel schedule to bolster several Democratic candidates in Georgia and beyond.

“I’m going to spend some time in Georgia. We have the 6th and the 7th (congressional districts). It’s a real possibility,” he said recently, adding that he also has plans to travel to other parts of the South, Midwest and West Coast.

It’s commonplace in Washington for more senior lawmakers to use their position to aid colleagues and their party’s more promising challengers. For some, the travel is essentially required for their roles in party leadership. For others, it’s a way to bolster their profile and gain goodwill from colleagues.

Lewis and U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, hit the road last year to help Democrat Doug Jones clinch the U.S. Senate seat in Alabama that Jeff Sessions vacated to become U.S. attorney general.

Other lawmakers have done similar campaign and fundraising work in Washington while Congress is in session.

U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger, who holds a safe House seat in northwest Georgia, began headlining a series of Washington fundraisers last month to aid colleagues in tough districts and more junior members of the House Appropriations Committee, of which he’s a senior member. He has hosted events so far for Republican U.S. Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska, Jeff Denham of California, John Moolenaar of Michigan and David Young of Iowa, and he has several more on the books for April and May.

Meanwhile, several of the state’s more junior lawmakers have benefited from the star power of senior colleagues.

U.S. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise reportedly attended an event in February to aid the re-election effort by U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson of West Point. And a parade of GOP leaders from the White House and Capitol Hill flew to Georgia’s 6th Congressional District last year on Karen Handel’s behalf to help her cement her special election win.