Republican Joni Ernst (left) is facing off against Democrat Bruce Braley (right) for the U.S. Senate race in Iowa, where early voting is a key part of both parties' strategy.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Washington (CNN) -- Forget about pushing voters to the polls in the final 72 hours. Republican war rooms are now just as focused on turning voters into votes weeks before Election Day.
In their multi-front battle to win back the Senate and hold on to governor mansions, Republican operatives don't want their supporters to wait until Nov. 4, and they're investing real money, technology and manpower to try to match Democrats, on a playing field the left has dominated in recent contests.
Many credit an early voting advantage by Democrats for playing a key role in the 2012 presidential elections. The practice has upended the traditional electoral calendar and Republicans have revamped their approach, at a time when 33 states and the District of Columbia now offer some form of early voting.
In key battleground states like Georgia, where early voting begins Monday, Republican operations are pouring more resources than ever into get-out-the-vote efforts ahead of Election Day.
In Iowa, where residents have been voting for the last two weeks, Republicans are already starting to close the gap with Democrats after investing more than $1 million to mobilize early voters. That's a stark contrast to past election cycles when Republicans "focused barely any resources on it," Iowa Republican Party spokesman Jeff Patch said.
"This midterm election cycle in particular has been the most early vote centered than any other election in previous history," Patch said. "I think we're going to make a huge dent."
In just the last week, Republicans have requested absentee ballots at a faster rate than Democrats -- more than doubling their count compared to just a 40% increase for Democrats in the last 10 days, according to numbers provided by the Iowa Secretary of State's office. Registered Republicans have also mailed in their early ballots at a faster pace than Democrats.
And while both parties have gotten their voters to submit more ballots than in 2010 so far, early Republican votes have more than doubled from 2010 while Democrats have only posted a 36% bump.
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GOP fights for 2014's early voters