GOP Women in Congress Might Get Whittled Down After Midterms

A confluence of factors are conspiring against Republican women ahead of November's midterms that threaten to make them more of a rare breed than they already are, Vox reports.

There are just 5 Republican women in the Senate and 23 in the House of Representatives, but nearly a fourth of those in the lower chamber are retiring or running for higher office. The odds of Republican women being replaced by other Republican women are not favorable, according to Vox's analysis.

There are some reasons for that, according to Vox:

• House Republicans face a tough electoral map in November, and it's even more acute for GOP women.
• The Republican party decries identity politics, but it's identity politics that's working for Democratic women.
• Infrastructure. Democratic female candidates have a lot of it, Republicans don't.

So while it may be the Year of the Woman culturally, in the political landscape it's the year for Democratic women. Out of 307 women who are still in the running for races in November, just 79 of them are Republican.

And infrastructure? Democratic group Emily's list boasts a war chest of $30 million and has endorsed 57 female candidates for the House alone, Vox reports. By comparison, two fledgling groups that support Republicans women have a combined $400,000.

"I see the stories about the year of the woman and I always feel there should be an asterisk," political scientist Melissa Deckman told Vox. "It’s the year of the Democratic woman."

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