Despite inheriting Phyllis Schlafly's political mantle, somehow the female ranks of elected Republican officials have thinned in recent years.
Serving at any given time, the record number of Republican women in Congress remains at a paltry 25.
But, in 2020, there are a slew of new Republican hopefuls looking to topple that apple cart and give Democrats a run for their money.
The time for that couldn't come soon enough.
Rutgers University's Center for American Women & Politics counts, so far, a record 217 Republican women who have filed to run for the U.S. House.
The last record was a decade ago and stood at 133 Republican women hopefuls in the running for a House seat.
For the 2018 race there were 120 Republican women who ran for a House seat, up from just 95 in 2016 (for Democrats it was 356 and 178 respectively for 2018 and 2016). And it's not just gender parity that is showing up in this 2020 race, it's also diversity.
Of the 45 Republican women candidates who have won their Primaries, half of them are women of color.
This is a much needed evolution in the GOP. As it stands now, House Republicans that are women tally at 7% while their Democrat sisters comprise a whopping 38% of House seats.
Looking at the 2020 election from the wide angle, where NPR/PBS/ Marist pollsters claim that Dems hold an 18 point advantage among women over Trump, these female candidates are what could save the White House from an administration change-over come November.
But are these women getting resounding party support and the veritable pat on the back? Well. . . according to Jennifer Pierotti Lim of Republican Women for Progress, "There are groups like ours who have realized we have to go outside the party structure; I think the party is still sorely lagging at actually putting actions behind their tepid support."
Just 33% of Republicans think there are too few women running for political office.
Many women cite 2018 as a key motivating factor, "It was very much the year of the women on the left. If they can do it, so can we," says Olivia Perez-Cubas, a spokesperson for Winning for Women, an organization dedicated to electing more Republican women. Women in the political arena have been asking, "Where are the Republican women?" Commented, Patti Russo, the director of the Women’s Campaign School at Yale.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., has been another one of the spearheads of this initiative that has taken on the "20 in '20" moniker.
The goal is to elect a total of 20 Republican women for House seats in this upcoming cycle. To that end she has led a proactive recruiting campaign using tools like her Elevate PAC and then there are also the VIEW PAC, Winning for Women and Maggie's List.
These are fundraising and recruitment organizations and are not unlike the left's Emily's List.
With Ivanka and Melania Trump taking bold leadership initiatives on the national political stage, perhaps this breath of fresh female energy is just what we need to conservatively steer this pivotal upcoming 2020 election into less stormy waters.
Author: Paige Donner
Source: https://www.newsmax.com/paigedonner/rutgers-stefanik-politics-women/2020/08/05/id/980719/