Simone Pathé

Current House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) is hardly a household name. But the bespectacled Oregonian may have more to do with helping his party maintain its grip on Washington than most Republican heavyweights.

As chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee for the past two cycles, Rep Walden helped Republicans win and preserve a historic majority. He’s spent 281 nights on the road and logged the mileage equivalent of 10 trips around the world, visiting districts across the country and raising nearly $8 million for the committee since becoming Chairman in 2012. And now, with election night behind him, the nine-term member, who grew up on an 80-acre cherry orchard, is ready for his next move. He’s vying against a member with more seniority for the gavel of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “You’ve got to take care of your NRCC chairman,” said former Virginia Rep. Tom Davis, himself a former chairman of the group who went on to beat several members with more seniority to take the helm of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Rewarding successful chairmen is important, Davis said, because it sends a message to members to pay their dues and support their team.