It’s not just Republican men. Female Republican candidates are having problems getting the support of women voters this year too.
A slew of recent polls show that the party’s much-touted female recruits are losing — in some cases, badly — to male Democratic opponents in the competition for women’s votes in Iowa, Michigan and Oregon.
That has implications for Republicans hoping to win control of the Senate this fall, as well as for a broader GOP strategy that rested on recruiting women to run for office.
• In Iowa, a Quinnipiac poll gave Republican Joni Ernst a healthy lead over Democrat Bruce Braley, but it also showed her lagging among female voters, 50 to 44. Other recent polls from Fox News and Mitchell Research had similar gender breakdowns.
• In Michigan, a USA Today/Suffolk University poll showed Democrat Gary Peters winning women voters by 20 percentage points over former Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, while a Detroit News/WDIV-TV poll gave him a 17-point advantage.
• In Oregon, a CBS/New York Times/YouGov poll showed Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley winning women voters by 26 percentage points over Republican Monica Wehby, who was once considered one of the female candidates to watch this year.
The polls also showed the women candidates leading among men, however. In Ernst’s case, that may be enough to offset the disadvantage, but for now it seems to be hurting Land and Wehby’s chances in the general election.
Still, not all Republican women faced the same problem.
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez won women’s votes by 17 points in a poll conducted for the Albuquerque Journal, while South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was ahead among women by eight points in a YouGov survey.
But the problems faced by Senate candidates have raised questions about the party’s strategy.
The Republican Party’s Growth and Opportunity Project, released in the wake of devastating losses in November 2012, made recruiting female candidates a central part of its explanation for how the party could be more competitive among female voters.
“The Republican Party committees need to understand that women need to be asked to run,” it said. “Women are less likely to run for office on their own, and we should be encouraging and championing their desire to seek elective office.”
The RNC has put considerable energy into courting female voters this election cycle, but the polls indicate that putting women on the ballot may not be enough.
