A close and undecided race for president was the focus on election night. Months of both parties claiming that their candidate would deliver a blowout victory met the reality of a sharply divided country and the extended time to count ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic. While most voters focused on the White House prize, the Republican Party quietly made historic gains in the House of Representatives.
The number of women who ran for Congress this year stood at 583, which represents a 20% uptick since 2016. Although the lion’s share of the record was set by Democratic women, more than 200 Republican women entered congressional races this year, nearly 75% more than ran in 2016, according to the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP).”
As of Wednesday afternoon, the House GOP added 11 women to its ranks. Considering the number of Republican females in the House only numbered 13 before election day, the nearly 100% increase is remarkable. Unsurprisingly, such gains received little attention from the crowd obsessed with gender dynamics among elected officials. In voters’ minds, these newly elected women were the best option between them and their Democratic Party opponents not because of gender but despite it.
Of these winners, five flipped Democratic seats, and by doing so, they helped reduce the Pelosi-led majority in the lower chamber. In the Democratic stronghold of Miami-Dade County, Maria Elvira Salazar defeated well-known Democratic Rep. Donna Shalala in an upset victory. Shalala may have only been a freshman representative, but she had served as the secretary of health and human services for former President Bill Clinton for the entirety of his administration. In South Carolina, Nancy Mace, notable for being the first female graduate of the Citadel, broke another barrier. On Wednesday morning, she was declared the winner against Democratic incumbent Rep. Joe Cunningham. With her victory, she will be the first Republican woman to represent South Carolina in the House.
The long-standing claim that the Republican Party is a home for only older white males is routinely used by Democrats who fail to see any diversity among the GOP. That a not insignificant number of female Republicans won their contests on Tuesday is a lesson for both parties.
The Republican Party can grow into a more diverse party. It is capable of attracting candidates who better mirror its constituents. To achieve the victories seen this past election night, the GOP must choose good candidates who can run in winnable races. For example, Salazar’s victory over Shalala is in Miami-Dade County, won handily by Hillary Clinton in 2016. The success was entirely possible with the right candidate. Elsewhere, Kimberly Klacik, a young black woman from Maryland, ran to fill Rep. Elijah Cummings’s old seat. While she did lose to Democratic Rep. Kweisi Mfume, she is seen as a rising star in the party. In her viral campaign ad, she harshly criticized how the Democratic control turned Baltimore into a hotbed of violence, crime, and urban decay. She also appeared at the Republican National Convention and was publicly promoted and praised by President Trump.
House gains were better than expected for the GOP, thanks in part to these women who chose to run in the first place.
There is nothing keeping capable, qualified Republican women from running for and winning races against Democratic opponents, male or female. The notion that women who embrace the GOP platform are either disinterested in running or lack the ability to win is slowly getting defeated.
It is a positive step in the right direction, not just for the party as a whole but for the country at large. The mainstream media refuses to give significant coverage to these history-making wins. Doing so would combat the narrative they work hard to spread: The GOP is nothing but a home for old, white men. In reality, not all women in the United States are beholden to the Democratic Party. As the new congresswomen have shown in both their campaigns and their victories, the Democratic Party does not accurately speak for them.
Hopefully, their stories will encourage more females who do not find a home among Democrats to take a chance and do the same.
