The House speaker, who’s well known nationally as the GOP’s top elected official and its 2012 vice presidential nominee, will visit 42 cities in those 17 states during October, stumping and raising money for House and Senate candidates. It’s a role Ryan is well suited for, given his popularity on the trail in 2012 and his proven ability as a fundraiser, where he has transferred more than $30 million to House Republicans’ campaign arm this year.

It’s also an increasingly necessary task for the speaker given the controversial candidate at the top of the ticket. Few Republicans in re-election races have campaigned with Trump, leaving a void in many of these contests – a sharp contrast to candidates on the Democratic side who have joined Hillary Clinton on the trail, or campaigned with popular Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

While much of Ryan’s effort so far this cycle has focused on raising money for his congressional colleagues, he’ll soon add more public rallies and attention-grabbing visits. Some of Ryan’s focus will be on his home state of Wisconsin, where Sen. Ron Johnson is locked in a tough re-election race and trails former Sen. Russ Feingold in the polls. It’s also where Democrats have targeted a congressional seat being vacated by Republican Rep. Reid Ribble, who is retiring.