The Hill News

Republicans could win as many as 59 seats on Tuesday, their chief of recruiting candidates said Friday.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), the GOP's chief deputy whip and National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) chairman for recruitment, said Republicans could pick up as many as 20 more seats than the net gain of 39 they need to win back control of the House.

"A lot of things are trending well for us, but I do believe we'll capture the majority," McCarthy told Bloomberg TV's "Political Capital With Al Hunt," set to air over the weekend. "We could post as high as 59.”

McCarthy said he wasn't entirely sure Republicans would score those kinds of overwhelming gains, but suggested it was within the realm of possibility for Republicans to generate such a wave.

If Republicans win back the majority, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) is likely to become Speaker, while Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) could slide up a! spot to become majority whip.

McCarthy said he'd decide whether to make a run to become majority whip after the election.

“The worst thing that happens in politics [is when] people measure the drapes ahead of time. We're going to take this day by day," he said. "That's a decision that gets made after the election. That job won't even be there if you don't get a majority. So if you don't look at winning the election first, there's no use of wondering about something else happening.”