Republicans were able to recruit a record-breaking number of women to seek House seats, but the party may end up having even fewer women in the next session of Congress.
Out of 236 Republicans in the House, 23 are women, The Hill reports, and according to an analysis, even if every female incumbent and challenger this fall wins, Republicans will have about the same amount of women in the House next year.
However, if a blue wave occurs, Republican women could shrink to somewhere between 10 and 15 members in the House.
There are 65 Republican women running, and two dozen are in competitive races, including incumbent Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington; Mimi Walters of California; and Barbara Comstock of Virginia.
In addition, about 30 of the female candidates are running on districts that are predominantly Democrat, giving them a slim chance of winning.
“The Republican Party has a tendency to like to recruit women to run in very tough races, which is probably smart because I think we have a lot of talented women who are probably the only ones that could win those races," GOP strategist Liz Mair told The Hill, while noting that the tough races could mean the women will be defeated in November.
The House GOP will also lose 25 percent of female lawmakers next year because of retirements or lawmakers leaving to seek higher office, while Democratic women are expected to grow in the House.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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