Republicans counter Democrats’ ‘war on women’ with wave of female winners

Here’s another reason the Democrats’ “war on women” strategy imploded in this year’s midterm elections: A wave of Republican women ran for office — and won.

Even as Democrats decried Republicans for being insufficiently sympathetic to women’s issues, female GOP candidates were having a breakout year, pulling off victories in high-visibility races and building their numbers in both houses of Congress, in state legislatures and in state executive offices.

The most striking result may have been at the lowest level: Republicans elected a net of 47 more women to state legislatures, while Democrats lost a net of 75 women in office.

“It was a very, very strong night for Republican women,” said Jill Bader, spokeswoman for the Republican State Leadership Committee, which backed many such candidates as part of its “Right Women, Right Now” campaign. “We believe we now have more Republican women representing us than ever before.”

Elected Democratic women outnumber their GOP counterparts overall, but Republican women set the pace on Nov. 4. They picked up two Senate seats — in Iowa with Joni Ernst and West Virginia with Shelley Moore Capito — even as Democratic women lost at least one seat with North Carolina Sen. Kay R. Hagan’s defeat. Another Democratic incumbent, Sen. Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana, faces long odds in a Dec. 6 runoff against Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy.

Each party elected two additional women to the House, and the Republicans may net a third, depending on the outcome of the recount in the Arizona House race between Democratic Rep. Ron Barber and Republican Martha McSally, with Ms. McSally holding a slim lead. But Republican women made their biggest gains at the state level.

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Women who won statehouse races included 138 first-time candidates backed by the RSLC.

Republicans lost a female governor with the retirement of Arizona’s Jan Brewer, while Democrats picked up a governorship with the election of Gina Raimondo in Rhode Island. Even so, Republicans hold the overall edge with three female governors to the Democrats’ two.

Republican women account for eight of the nation’s lieutenant governors after the Nov. 4 vote, and five are Democratic women.

Of course, Republican men didn’t do too badly either. This election will be remembered as a Republican blowout, but supporters say female candidates of the GOP played a crucial role by making it more difficult for the “war on women” narrative used by Democrats in election cycles past to gain traction.

That didn’t happen by accident, GOP strategists say. Republican and conservative campaign groups actively recruited women and minority candidates to run for office. The RSLC poured $6 million into its recruitment and training efforts, while the Susan B. Anthony List’s Women Speak Out PAC organized a $15.25 million ground game aimed at pro-life voters.

Democratic gaffes

Unlike in past election cycles, the gaffes on women’s issues seemed to be committed mainly by Democrats. For example, in a closely watched House race for an open Northern Virginia seat, Democrat John Foust probably didn’t win over many female voters after saying in August of Republican Barbara Comstock, a lawyer, that “I don’t think she’s even had a real job.” Ms. Comstock won 56 percent to 40 percent.

“It was amazing how wonderful these candidates were,” said former Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, now vice president of public affairs for the Susan B. Anthony List. “Republicans had such a good year, but these candidates ran really strong campaigns, and that was a big part of it.”

Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women in Politics at the Eagleton Institute at Rutgers University, said Republican women scored some historic firsts. For example, Elise Stefanik of New York became the youngest woman ever elected to the House.

Mia Love of Utah made history as the first black Republican woman elected to Congress. In Iowa, Joni Ernst, widely praised for running one of the best campaigns of the cycle, became the first woman to be elected from the state to either the House or the Senate, and also the first female veteran.

Even so, Ms. Walsh said she didn’t think it was a particularly noteworthy year, even for Republican women. In the House, so many Republicans won election that women didn’t improve their percentage of the GOP caucus, even though they gained two net seats, she said.

“While there has been some pickup, I think that the message I take out of this election for Republican women is that in a year where the Republican Party did so well, we didn’t see Republican women in the House really increase their proportion and their voice in the Republican caucus,” Ms. Walsh said. “The way I see that is a bit of a missed opportunity.”

Andrea Bozek, spokeswoman for the National Republican Campaign Committee, disagreed. “We had fantastic women candidates who won very competitive races in close districts,” she said.

“We’re very pleased,” she said. “At the same time, there’s never enough, and you definitely want more women involved. And that’s a priority of our chairman, Greg Walden.”

Ms. Musgrave, a former Republican House member from Colorado, predicted this year’s results likely will inspire more GOP women to throw their hats into the ring.

“It’s quite a step to put yourself out there as a candidate,” Ms. Musgrave said. “This is a great year in that it will be seen as a time when other women were encouraged to run.”