Boehner's haul will power Republican efforts to maintain control of the House. Boehner raises big bucks for GOP

House Speaker John Boehner has spent the past six months struggling to corral an unruly group of conservatives who have given him headaches on everything from the fiscal cliff to immigration reform.

For all his woes, though, the Ohio Republican is still on the top of his game in one area that matters a lot on Capitol Hill: fundraising.


Boehner, for years a familiar face on the cash-raising circuit, has raised more than $30 million this year, according to figures his political office provided to POLITICO. The sum narrowly outpaces the amount he had raised at this point in the 2012 election cycle, when he was in the early days of his speakership.

( PHOTOS: John Boehner’s life and career)

His haul will power GOP efforts to maintain control of the House in the 2014 midterm elections. Since January, Boehner has held more than 100 fundraising events across the country. He has given more than $5 million to the National Republican Congressional Committee, $350,000 to House members and candidates and $250,000 to the Republican National Committee.

Boehner is doling out money to Republicans at a time when President Barack Obama is stepping up his efforts to help Democrats seize the speaker’s gavel. The president has been hopscotching across the country to raise money for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, helping to out-fundraise the NRCC so far this year.

“As House Republicans continue working to create jobs and hold the administration accountable on Benghazi and the IRS, the speaker appreciates the strong support we receive each day from across the country,” said Cory Fritz, a Boehner spokesman. “Every dollar is needed as we prepare to face one of the most well-financed, well-organized political machines in modern history.”

( PHOTOS: 13 times John Boehner cried)

Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, the NRCC chairman, said, “There is no one more dedicated to growing our majority than Speaker Boehner. Just one look at his schedule will tell you no one is going to outwork John Boehner.”

Behind the scenes, Boehner has been reaching out beyond the GOP’s traditional political apparatus to help his party raise money. He recently appeared at a fundraising event for the Congressional Leadership Fund, a Republican super PAC that spent over $9 million in 2012 to protect the GOP’s House majority.

“Our Republican House majority is the last line of defense. If Democrats succeed in returning the speaker’s gavel to Nancy Pelosi, they will control all the levers of power. No check. No balance. No stopping the president from more spending, more taxes and his cap-and-trade agenda,” Boehner said at the event, according to a source familiar with his remarks.

“So let me just say thanks for all that you’re doing to help groups like Congressional Leadership Fund and my national fundraising committee, Boehner for Speaker, make sure that doesn’t happen,” he added.

Republicans, who have a 17-seat majority, head into 2014 favored to keep the House because, in large part, of the GOP-dominated redistricting process after the 2010 census. The Cook Political Report projects Republicans, who lost eight seats in 2012, will net two to seven seats in the midterms.

While his party’s 2014 prospects are bright, the conservative nature of Boehner’s majority has made leading the conference difficult. In December, Boehner was forced to pull his so-called Plan B fiscal cliff compromise before it came to the floor because it lacked Republican votes, and some members of the House GOP’s right flank have threatened his speakership if he brings an immigration bill to the floor that doesn’t have majority support among House Republicans.

Whether Boehner — who earlier this year complained to The Wall Street Journal, “I need this job like I need a hole in the head” — stays on as speaker beyond 2014 is an open question. There is speculation in Capitol Hill circles that the speaker, who was first elected in 1990, could step down after the midterms, positioning the No. 2 House Republican, Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, to take the reins.

Boehner has been upbeat as he meets with supporters.

“The American people see that their government is out of control,” he told donors at the Congressional Leadership Fund event. “We just need to keep making the case for our solutions to build a stronger economy and a more accountable government.”