Next week is the 2014 midterm election and those on the center-right are anxious. While most want to see if the Republican Party retakes the Senate others of us are watching for something else: female candidates. There are a handful of Republican women running for Congress – several poised for an upset. These women represent the new face of the Right: young, diverse, and bold.
We have more well-known candidates such as Utah rising star, Mia Love, who narrowly lost her last bid for the House by under 800 votes. Love would be the first black Republican woman elected to Congress.
New York’s Elise Stefanik is a Millennial who at the ripe age of 30 may be the youngest member elected to Congress – ever. Marilinda Garcia, 31, faces a tight but winnable race in New Hampshire.
With so many women running for seats of power in Washington – and young women at that- we should see feminist groups rallying around them, right? Don’t hold your breath.
These women are demonstrating that conservative values of less government, lower taxes, and more freedom are messages that resonate with audiences traditionally beholden to the liberal perspective.
The Hill reports:
House Republicans won't dramatically increase the number of women in their chamber next year, but a handful of likely freshmen could help the GOP as they struggle to reach out to female and minority voters.
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Only 19 of the current 233 House Republicans are women; 17 of them will be returning in the next Congress. So GOP leaders have been working overtime to try to boost their ranks — not only to diversify their caucus but also blunt Democrats’ blistering charges that the GOP is waging a “war on women.”
Rising female stars like Love and Stefanik can help change the public perception — and the narrative — that the Grand Old Party is a homogeneous group of old, white guys. Even if fewer than one in 10 Republican lawmakers is a woman.
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After women voters largely abandoned the GOP in 2012, Republicans launched Project GROW, a program to recruit and groom more conservative women to run for office. Love, Stefanik and McSally were among 10 female standouts tapped to receive extra fundraising help and candidate training through the program, which is led by Reps. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) and Diane Black (R-Tenn.) .
But the program also helped incumbent male Republicans running against Democratic female challengers to inoculate themselves from “war on women” attacks.
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Still, even with all of the extra recruitment efforts, the number of GOP women serving in the 114th Congress won’t be breaking any records. In 2010, voters elected 24 GOP women in the House; a decade ago, 25 GOP were elected…
Women running for office is a nice idea, but most helpful when they are promoting high priority agenda items such jobs and the economy. It’s no surprise that these two are top issues among Americans right now according to Gallup. (However, among working women equal pay that top spot.)
Women are left out of the conversation too often, yet, we head many households and make the buying decisions for households on daily basis. We understand what it costs to buy a carton of eggs or a gallon of milk. When the economy tanked and American households found themselves tightening their belts, many women learned how to make life with smaller budgets and less discretionary spending. Scrolling through a Pinterest search for “fun on a budget” turns up countless innovative and thrifty ideas inspired by moms trying to fulfill family desires on a dime.
We’re encouraged to see these conservative women fighting the headwinds of politics. On top of that women face the added scrutiny of being female and the Democrats are only too eager to go after conservative women.
The response should not be to fall back and hide but to push forward and pave the way for more qualified women to join the ranks – especially when they are fighting for reforms and policies that will strengthen our economy and nation.