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Top House Republicans warned their GOP colleagues Tuesday to watch out and get ready, because a political storm could be coming in 2018.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, told lawmakers in a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning at the Republican National Committee to expect a difficult political landscape ahead of the midterm congressional elections next year. They cited increased grass-roots engagement on the left and robust fundraising for Democratic candidates in recent special elections in urging lawmakers to accelerate their own political efforts in response.

The message from leadership, and I think its a very appropriate message, is: We are not going to take anything for granted, said Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), a key GOP fundraiser. Even in the districts that lean or tilt heavily Republican, you have to be ready you cant just sit around and expect that this is just going to roll your way without some major effort. This will be a year Republicans will need to recognize that getting this majority was hard, and keeping it is hard, and we need to roll up our sleeves and do everything necessary so the day after Election Day, were not sitting around playing the what-if game.

According to the most recent publicly reported figures available, Republicans are getting outspent by Democrats in the key congressional battleground of 2017 Georgias 6th Congressional District, where Democrat Jon Ossoff has raised a staggering $23.6 million in his bid to claim the House seat once held by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. Republican candidate Karen Handel has lagged with $4.5 million raised, although that has been boosted by a $6.3 million commitment from the NRCC and $7 million in planned spending from the Congressional Leadership Fund, a GOP super PAC.

Small donors have also pumped millions into Democratic campaigns waging recent special elections in Kansas and Montana, forcing the NRCC and Republican-aligned outside groups to spend millions to blunt the impact of the grass-roots surge on the left. In both cases, Republican candidates won but by slimmer margins than the GOP has come to expect in those particular districts.

Inside the meeting, Stivers gave House Republicans an update on the Georgia race and another pending special election in South Carolina, telling them that Republicans were in position to win both races citing polling showing a dead heat in Georgia and a solid GOP advantage in South Carolina.

But he also warned that the NRCC has already spent roughly $10 million on special elections in 2017 far outstripping the committees spending in other recent nonelection years. From 2009 through 2016, the committee spent about $9.7 million combined on special elections.

In an interview Tuesday, Stivers said he simply reiterated sage advice for any election cycle You always need to be ready for every race and said he felt good about how House Republicans were positioned, with the party committee outraising its Democratic counterpart.

If you are ready, everything will be good, and we always need to be ready, he said. I dont feel any doom or gloom whatsoever. Im excited about this cycle.

Ryan, a person inside the meeting said, emphasized the need for members even those in safe seats to prepare for whats ahead by increasing their own fundraising pace and potentially by assisting colleagues in tougher races by transferring money to the NRCC. Several members announced contributions to the party committee on the spot.

Multiple members inside the Tuesday morning meeting said the challenge was also presented in historical terms: Parties in power tend to lose ground in the midterm congressional elections.

The average midterm turnover is 32 seats since FDR, said Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.). So youve got to be paying attention to those things get out there, work hard, work on your messaging.

The potential challenges for GOP House candidates, both now and in 2018, are myriad starting with an unpopular president mired in investigations that are unlikely to be resolved soon, which stands to turn off independent voters, to a congressional majority that has been unable so far to swiftly execute its agenda, which could dampen enthusiasm on the right. Those obstacles could weigh even heavier if Ossoff beats Handel on June 20, demonstrating concrete momentum for Democrats.

Stivers said he was not concerned about the Georgia race, citing tight polls and encouraging early-voting turnout for Republicans, and he made a case that an Ossoff win still wouldnt spell disaster for the GOP.

I give him fundraising props, but thats a single race, Stivers said. This isnt something they can duplicate, even in Georgia-six. In a general in 2018, they cant raise $20 million, because there will be 435 seats to talk about, not one.

Womack said he, too, was wary of reading too much into the special election results, and he said the historical record on midterm elections could be of limited utility.

I dont know how you can apply historical averages because of the way redistricting has happened over the last four, five decades, he said. Weve created a lot of pretty safe seats out there.

But he said that the political head winds for Republicans were unmistakable.

Its on everybodys mind: I mean, we know what were facing, and we know that the other side of the aisle is motivated, their ground game is going to be good, Womack said. The 18 cycle is going to be our first real test out of the box after a change in administration, so we know we have to do our jobs. We have to be fundamentally sound. We need to have our game face on every day, and we need to be developing the right resources and doing the job that is expected of somebody thats up for reelection.

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House GOP leaders warn Republicans about 2018: Watch out - Washington Post