After the November midterm elections, over 50 Republican women could be serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to a prediction from Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) during Monday's E-PAC press conference highlighting another slate of endorsements. E-PAC was founded in 2019 by Stefanik following the midterm losses of 2018.
At the start of the 116th congress, only 13 Republican women were serving in the House, making up just 2.9 percent of Congress. Currently, 31 Republican women are in office, following 2020 being "the Year of the Republican Woman." That number is sure to grow even higher. When I covered the record-high amount of Republican women running for Congress last July, 127 such women had indicated they planned to run. Stefanik on Monday mentioned that, in addition to the press conference being a fitting way to close out Women's History Month, over 280 Republican women have filed a run for Congress.
Stefanik explained that they look to endorse candidates who can meet certain metrics, such as if they've met their fundraising goals, are spending their campaign budget effectively, and have GOTV efforts. E-PAC doesn't only look for swing districts, though, which Stefanik believes was a mistake from the 2018 midterms.
"I'm a big believer that we need to have strong Republican women in all types of districts across the country, both women in very red districts, to make sure that they can gain seniority over many years in Congress," she also told Townhall while taking questions. Stefanik did add "and we believe in those swing districts, they are the strongest candidates on the ballot."
She highlighted that E-PAC is focusing on open seats as well as seats where they are going on offense and hope to flip.
The slate of 10 candidates this time included Morgan Ortagus, who is running for an open seat in Tennessee's 5th district and how served in the Trump administration with the State Department. She's also been endorsed by the former president. During her remarks, Ortagus proclaimed that 2022 will be the "pink wave," a take on the "red wave" that is believed to take place following the November midterms.
Late last December, Cook Political Report predicted that Republicans will gain control of the House. The president's party in power almost always loses seats during his first midterm elections, and Democrats are in a particularly sorry state under President Joe Biden. Republicans need to just pick up 5 seats, and over 30 Democrats have retired after this cycle, rather than run and lose. Biden's low approval ratings also look to be dragging the party down.
Many of the candidates are running to represent border states, including Anna Paulina Luna, who is running to represent Florida's 13th district; Tanya Wheeless, who is running to represent Arizona's 4th district; Cassy Garcia, who is running to represent Texas' 28th district; and Mayra Flores, who is running to represent Texas' 34th district in a special election and in the general election. The current Democratic congressman, Rep. Filemon Vela, is leaving office early.
During her remarks and when taking questions, Flores highlighted the opportunities afforded to her as well as the hope she has for others. "I AM the American Dream," she shared. At the age of six, she and her family legally immigrated from Mexico and worked in cotton fields. When it comes to the Hispanic vote, Flores had a message for the Democrats in that "the Democratic Party has felt entitled to our vote."
Flores also spoke of her role as the wife of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent, and "the constant disrespect towards Border Patrol agents," which she said "is a personal attack."
Garcia similarly noted that under Trump, those at the border and in law enforcement felt they had a leader who had their back, but not now under the Biden administration.
During her own remarks, Stefanik emphasized that Democrats do not have a "monopoly on women candidates or women voters." She reiterated this while taking questions from the press, as well, noting Democrats are "running for the hills" when it comes to the particularly high amount of retirements. "I didn't hear a lot of Democrats moving up to run for office in these target districts," Stefanik said. "I think most of them are playing defense."
Other candidates at the press conference included Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who is running to represent Oregon's 5th district; Annie Black, who is running to represent Nevada's 4th district; Liz Joy, who is once more running to represent New York's 20th district; Madison Gesiotto Gilbert who is running to represent Ohio's 13th district; and Erin Houchin, who us running to represent Indiana's 9th district.
E-PAC also endorsed a slate of eight candidates last November for the 2022 cycle. One of those candidates, Monica De La Cruz, has already won her primary to represent Texas' 15th district, which is currently represented by Rep. Vicente Gonzalez Jr., a Democrat.
Eighteen E-PAC endorsed candidates won in 2020, 11 of which were flipped seats.