Doug Collins may represent a 20-county swath of Northeast Georgia in the U.S. House, but the three-term Republican spent the first week of Congress’ Easter recess more than 800 miles away, traversing a cross-section of Kansas and Missouri with House colleagues.
Collins himself 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 reelected,” he said in a recent interview.
Across the aisle, Collins’ colleague 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 their colleagues, particularly in moments when they themselves are not facing any serious challenges at the ballot box.
Lewis and his colleague U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, hit the road last year to help Democrat Doug Jones clinch Jeff Sessions’ old U.S. Senate seat in Alabama.
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 fundraisers in D.C. 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’s hosted events so far for Republicans Don Bacon of Nebraska, Jeff Denham of California, David Young of Iowa and John Moolenaar of Michigan, 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 more senior colleagues.
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise reportedly attended an event to aid Drew Ferguson’s reelection effort in February. And a parade of GOP leaders from the White House and Capitol Hill flew to Georgia’s 6th District last year on Karen Handel’s behalf to help her cement her special election win.
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