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(s)Elections See other (s)Elections Articles Title: A record number of Republican women will serve in the House after the GOP ate into Democratic majority A record number of Republican women will serve in the House after the GOP ate into Democratic majority Ledyard King, USA TODAY, USA TODAY • November 10, 2020 WASHINGTON – Indiana GOP Rep. Susan Brooks remembers that sinking feeling two years ago when the results poured in on Election Day: 36 women elected as new members of the House – and just one of them was a Republican. “It was a wake-up call in 2018 when Carol Miller (of West Virginia) was the only freshman," she said. Shortly after that deflating outcome, Brooks embarked on the daunting task of leading GOP efforts to find and fund female candidates to run for Congress. One of 13 female Republicans in the 435-member House, she persuaded House leadership to make gender diversity a priority and went about the job of recruiting and mentoring candidates throughout the country. The work paid off: 228 Republican female candidates (including incumbents) ran for the House and 94 won their primaries – nearly double the previous record. Republican candidate Yvette Herrell and her parents, Tommy and Josette Herrell, celebrate her victory in New Mexico's 2nd congressional district on Nov. 3. So far, 15 freshman Republican women have won their House races, with four more in races yet to be called as of Tuesday. The previous record for Republican freshmen women was nine in 2010. With 11 incumbents returning, Republicans have already surpassed the record of 25 female House members they set in 2004. The most recent additions happened Tuesday when Democrat Candace Venezuela c onceded to Republican newcomer Beth Van Duyne in the race for Texas' 24th Congressional District, and Democratic incumbent Harley Rouda conceded to Republican Michelle Steel in California's 48th Congressional District. "We went and talked and vetted and really encouraged a lot of new exciting candidates because we know we needed to have the (GOP) conference reflect the diversity of the nation," Brooks told USA TODAY. "And we’re getting there.” The incoming class includes Lauren Boebert, a Colorado gun-rights activist who knocked off five-term incumbent Scott Tipton in a GOP primary; Michelle Fischbach, a former Minnesota lieutenant governor who unseated 15-term Democrat Collin Peterson; and Native American businesswoman Yvette Herrell, who defeated Xochitl Torres Small, part of the Democrats' historic wave in 2018. The incoming roster also includes women with a range of political stripes. Maria Alvira Salazar, a Cuban-American moderate from Miami, ran on an anti-socialist platform, while Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia businesswoman, espoused elements of the far-right fringe movement QAnon that baselessly claims a "deep state" cabal of pedophiles is trying to bring down President Donald Trump. Most had never run for Congress before, although one – Claudia Tenney of New York – is on the verge of recapturing the seat she had lost two years ago. Unlike the influx of 89 freshmen women who helped catapult the Democrats to power in 2018, Republicans are not expected to take back the House even if the female GOP candidates win all six remaining seats. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi downplayed the significance of the Republican gains in general, saying Democrats who in 2018 flipped districts Trump won Tuesday naturally had a tough time keeping their seats. "We've lost some battles, but we won the war," she told reporters Friday. "We (still) have the gavel." The wins by Republican women came in a historic election for gender equity. At least 131 women (100 Democrats, 31 Republicans) will serve in Congress (House and Senate) in 2021, surpassing the record of 127 set two years ago, according to data compiled by the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. That number is likely to increase as more races are called. Debbie Walsh, who heads the center, said the numbers reflect "a long, if occasionally fitful, upward trajectory" for women in office but still do not reflect the country. "With all that progress, at best women will still make up less than 30% of Congress in 2021," she said. "The 2018 cycle was a story of Democratic success; this year, we are seeing significant gains on the Republican side. Advances for women must come from both sides of the aisle if women are to achieve equal representation in Congress." Republican gains came in an election where Democrats made a pointed appeal to suburban women whom polls suggested harbor deep misgivings about Trump. Former Vice President Joe Biden won among female voters 55%-44%, according to the VoteCast survey from The Associated Press. Indiana GOP Rep. Susan Brooks has taken the lead to get Republican House leadership to make gender diversity a priority. But the Republican gains means Democrats' majority has shrunk in an election that was projected to be a second "blue wave." "This was the year of the Republican woman," told reporter at the White House Thursday. Brooks said Tuesday's results will help Republicans make the case that women have a place in a party that wants to expand the economy, reopen schools and preserve health care coverage for patients with pre-existing medical conditions. "It is a repudiation of the narrative that it was the Democratic Party that cared about women and women's issue," she said. "But I think what these candidates said – and the Republican Party has said – is all issues are women's issues." Brooks won't be around to greet the incoming class as a colleague. She opted not to run in her safe district for a fifth term this year, saying it was time to pursue other interests. But she will end on a high note: Her successor, Victoria Spartz, is part of a record freshman class. 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