Pete Sessions said he's told several members to prepare for third-party groups getting involved. House GOP worries about surprises

Rep. Cliff Stearns. Rep. John Sullivan. Rep. [YOUR NAME HERE].

For House Republicans, there’s little public or private worry they’ll lose the majority in November, but GOP leaders are determined to make sure members realize they’re still in danger of becoming the next object lesson in electoral politics.


Top Republicans are meeting with potential problem children this week, having one-on-one talks on the House floor, adding star power to the more than 150 fundraisers set for this month and putting all members on notice about the importance of being prepared for the November election at their weekly meeting.

Their message: Shape up, or find yourself out of a job in January. Just like Stearns and Sullivan, two members who got knocked off by surprisingly strong primary challenges this year.

( Also on POLITICO: 5 lessons from Congressional primaries)

National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions had a “Come to Jesus” talk to Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) on the House floor Tuesday. King, who is in a hotly contested race against Democrat Christie Vilsack, has already been the beneficiary of an endorsement and recent visit from Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is visiting King’s district on Thursday.

Sessions isn’t taking chances. He told POLITICO he’s talked to several lawmakers this week, including Rep. Francisco Canseco (R-Texas), particularly about being prepared for third-party groups getting involved as the election gets closer.

“I have talked to several on these issues. We’ve got them going on all over the place,” Sessions said. “What was a good fight between two or four people, turns into a fight among 15. I’m talking to them about what to expect and what our opportunities will be.”

NRCC Vice Chairman Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) said the goal of the meetings are just “making sure that they’ve got plenty of bullets to go onto the battlefield, so to speak, we need to retain those seats.”

House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy used the Republicans’ weekly meeting Tuesday to remind members to make sure they are working their districts and to have a good financial cushion, according to a GOP aide.

That’s where K Street comes in.

Republican lobbyists are circulating a list of more than a dozen vulnerable members who need cash, including Reps. Charlie Bass (N.H.), Brian Bilbray (Calif.), Robert Dold (Ill.) and Jon Runyan (N.J.). The NRCC also focused its fundraising efforts on the most vulnerable members in its “Patriots” program, hosting an afternoon fundraiser Wednesday at the Capitol Hill Club with host levels beginning at $25,000, according to an NRCC email invite.

Over 150 fundraisers were set for the two-week congressional session, with members not even taking Sept. 11 off.

Nearly 20 House Republicans, including Reps. Allen West (Fla.) and King, held fundraisers on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on American soil. King kicked the day off with a breakfast fundraiser at Charlie Palmer Steak House with special guest Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). West got some added help from Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) at an evening reception at the Capitol Hill Club.

Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), who was the featured guest at a fundraiser attended by Speaker John Boehner on Sept. 11, said the date didn’t have anything to do with his money event and that it was organized in honor of his birthday a week earlier.

“I’ve been here long enough either you win, or you lose, there are two outcomes,” Simpson said. “You’ve got to make sure you’ve got the resources to run a race.”

Former NRCC Chairman Tom Cole said these two weeks are “extremely important” because it’s the last chance the party committee can see a lot of members, ask them tough questions about where they are and also raise money inside the Beltway before returning to their districts.

“It’s a very intense campaign week,” Cole said, adding that he thought Republicans were better prepared this year than in 2006 and 2008, when Democrats won and then maintained majority control.

Being prepared is key — especially since outside groups like the NRCC, YG Action Fund and others are doing polls in key districts as they make their decisions about where to put their resources leading up to Election Day.

For its part, the NRCC is already making some bets on races. The party committee continued to pour money against Democratic Reps. Jim Matheson (Utah), John Barrow (Ga.) and Mike McIntyre (N.C.) in its most recent ad buys. It also cut more than $220,000 in buys this week in Rep. Mark Critz’s (D-Pa.) district, bringing the NRCC’s total buy this cycle to about $788,000.

Boehner’s and Cantor’s people weren’t ready to say where the top House leaders were traveling this fall, but they will hit the road to put their arms around vulnerable incumbents.

Over the next month, Sessions has events scheduled for more than 30 candidates in 10 states, including New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Florida, Oklahoma, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and California. McCarthy is also set to travel to Ohio, Florida, Georgia and Wisconsin, in addition to a major push in California to try to counter Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) push to pick up eight seats in the Golden State.

Several vulnerable members said they are sticking to their game plan on the ground and with their fundraising.

“We’re just trying to focus and raise resources ourselves,” said Dold. “We trying to run the race that we can run.”

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect that Rep. Robert Hurt (Va.) did not host a fundraiser. Hurt was scheduled to host a fundraiser, but it was canceled.

CORRECTION: Corrected by: Alysha Love @ 09/14/2012 02:51 PM CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect that Rep. Robert Hurt (Va.) did not host a fundraiser that was scheduled but later canceled.