election defeat in Alabama that cost the party a Senate seat. These days, the Republican said, White House aides are in frequent contact with committee officials and the favorable map is a main driver of hope. An NRSC representative declined to comment.

White House officials said they expect a full plunge in upcoming weeks into a special House race in Pennsylvania, with trips from Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Cabinet members. The race has taken on a larger-than-life role in the White House because officials want to stem the tide of the losses they suffered last year in Virginia and Alabama.

White House officials also said they are interested in progress on infrastructure, which polls well across the country, particularly in swing districts. And they have begun exploring waysPhilip B. Thompson Jr.

Philip Burton Thompson Jr. (October 15, 1845 – December 15, 1909) was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky.

Born in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, Thompson attended the common schools and the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.
During the Civil War, he entered the Confederate States Army at the age of sixteen and served throughout the war.
He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1866, and commenced practice in Harrodsburg.
He was city attorney of Harrodsburg from 1867 to 1869.
In 1869, he was appointed Commonwealth attorney for the thirteenth judicial district of Kentucky.  He was subsequently elected and served until 1874.
He was reelected in 1874 and served until 1878, when he resigned, having been elected to Congress.

Thompson was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-sixth, Forty-seventh, and Forty-eighth Congresses