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Girl Power: Rep. Elect Julia Letlow Wins Special Election, Increases Record Amount of GOP Women in House

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  March 21, 2021 10:15 PM

Not long after her husband, Rep. Elect Louisiana Luke Letlow (R-LA), died from COVID-19 complications, his widow, Julia Letlow made the decision to run for the seat herself. In the last few hours of Saturday night, she won that race to serve as the congresswoman for the 5th district of Louisiana.

It's not only a heartfelt moment because she's filling her husband's seat, though it certainly is, especially with her press release in part reading "What was born out of the terrible tragedy of losing my husband, Luke, has become my mission in his honor to carry the torch and serve the good people of Louisiana's 5th District." Rep. Elect Letlow, though, helps shrink the Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and adds one more name to the record number of GOP women serving in Congress.

The other recent Republican woman to be elected to the House is Rep. Claudia Tenney of the 22nd District of New York, whose race was finally called in her favor on February 8th. It was a particularly noteworthy win not just because it took months to certify the results, but because Rep. Tenney unseated one-term Rep. Anthony Brindisi, her Democratic opponent from 2018, who in that year beat her in the race. Rep. Brindisi was elected as part of a "Blue Way" in 2018.

Paul Bedard, of the Washington Examiner, pointed out this morning that Rep. Elect means there are now 31 Republican women.