Washington (CNN) - The head of the Republican Party has a prediction about November's midterm elections.
"I think we're in for a tsunami-type election in 2014," Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Preibus said Tuesday at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.[twitter-follow screen_name='politicalticker'][twitter-follow screen_name='psteinhausercnn']
"My belief is, it's going to be a very big win, especially at the U.S. Senate level, and we may add some seats in congressional races. But I need to and we need to at the RNC make sure that we can capture the positives and the benefits we've been able to provide in 2014 and build on that to have success in 2016, which is a very different type of election," Priebus added.
Priebus said he thinks GOP gains with female and younger voters will lead the party to victory in November.
"I'm just guessing here, but I think among youth and women, we're gonna see the greatest increase in 2014 because of, number one, Obamacare," Priebus said.
Priebus: How the GOP is changing
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, chair of the rival Democratic National Committee, pushed back on the prediction by Priebus.
"I think we have incredible opportunities all across the country, and our incumbents and U.S. senators all across the country are running aggressive, bottom-up campaigns that are going to reach voters where they are," Wasserman Schultz said at a news conference.
The congresswoman added that she's "confident we will hold the Senate."
Democrats hold a 55-45 majority in the Senate (53 Democrats and two independents who caucus with the party), but are defending 21 of the 36 seats up in November, with half of those Democratic-held seats in red or purple states.
In the House of Representatives, Democrats need a net gain of 17 seats from the GOP to regain control of the chamber. Political handicappers consider that a tall order, considering the shrinking number of competitive congressional districts nationwide.
CNN Political Editor Paul Steinhauser and CNN's Dana Davidsen contributed to this report