Democrats can have their “moral victories" from closer-than-expected losses in red district special elections. Republicans are winning “real victories,” said the man leading House Republicans’ campaign efforts in 2018.

Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, gloated Thursday that Democrats came up short in a pair of special elections this year in Kansas and Montana, and predicted his party would win a third special election victory in a Georgia runoff on June 20.

“I don’t deny that Democrats are energized. That’s a fact. But Republicans are energized too,” Stivers said in an interview on C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" that will air over the weekend. “Look at what happened in Kansas. We won. Look at what happened in Montana. We won. Look at what happened in the special election [in Georgia]. We took it to a runoff. Our voters are energized enough to win.

“The Democrats can claim their moral victories, but we are actually accumulating real victories, and I feel very comfortable with that, and I think on June 20 we’ll have another one.”

President Trump and Republicans are reeling from multiple FBI and congressional investigations into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to affect the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Democrats smell blood and see 2018 shaping up to be a huge opportunity to win back the House.

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But Stivers said he doesn’t see a Democratic wave on the horizon. The NRCC chairman said that redistricting in states has limited the number of competitive races around the country.

And he said Republicans are setting fundraising records this year which will allow them to “expand the playing field” and force Democrats to play defense.

Democrats need to flip about two dozen GOP-held seats to take back control of the House.

“It’s way too early to guess those things,” Stivers said, “but I do not see a wave coming.

“Usually you see a canary in the coal mine,” he added, noting that former Republican Sen. Scott Brown’s surprise victory in a special Senate race foreshadowed the 2010 Tea Party wave that swept House Republicans into power.

Stivers, 52, a decorated Iraq war veteran who still serves in the Ohio Army National Guard, was first elected in that GOP wave.

“If the Democrats are only going to win moral victories, there’s not go to be any canary that’s announcing this problem in the coal mine,” he said. “They’ve actually got to win one of these special elections, which is why they’ve spent so much money in Georgia 6.”

The runoff in Georgia's 6th district, the most expensive congressional race in history, is between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel. They are vying to replace former GOP Rep. Tom Price, who resigned to become Trump’s Health and Human Services secretary.

“While special elections are special and I don’t think you can build too much into what happens in this race, I feel pretty good,” Stivers said of the Georgia runoff. “I think we’re going to win this race.”

Stivers, who is in his first year running the NRCC, pointed to two House seats that could serve as “bellwethers” for 2018: the Orlando-area seat held by freshman Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) and the one in suburban Philadelphia held by two-term Rep. Ryan Costello (R-Pa.).

“He’s a great young member, a rising star, but he’s got a very strong challenger,” Stivers explained. “It’s not one of our [vulnerable 'patriot' seats], but in order to take the majority back they have to move beyond 'patriot' races.

“If we win in Florida, the Democrats are not taking back the majority,” he continued. “If they win in Pennsylvania against Costello, they’ve got a shot to take the majority.”

The interview will air on C-SPAN at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET on Sunday.