Republican women were among the biggest winners of Tuesday’s balloting, breaking a record for House non-incumbent victories and closing in on the record high for the chamber.
The 11 Republican women seeking another House term were all reelected, and another dozen candidates were elected for the first time. Eleven additional House races featuring GOP women had yet to be called, according to the Center for American Women in Politics.
The center said that “Republican women have already set a new record for non-incumbent House winners, with 12 women elected in 2020 so far, surpassing the previous record of nine, set in 2010.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he expected the number of Republican women to break the previous record, which was 25 in the 2004 election, telling Politico it was “the night of Republican women.”
“The Republican Party is about to have more GOP women in Congress than in the entire history of the United States,” Mr. McCarthy tweeted.
We’re celebrating this morning as 13 NEW proudly #ProLife women (and counting‼️) win their races for the U.S. House!!#FL27 @MaElviraSalazar #NM02 @Yvette4congress #MN07 @FischbachMN7#SC01 @NancyMace #OK05 @stephaniebice
— Susan B. Anthony List (@SBAList) November 4, 2020
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Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, called it “a resounding victory for pro-life women everywhere.” Most Republican women running for Congress are pro-life.
“The surge of victorious pro-life women candidates in the U.S. House is a stunning blow to Nancy Pelosi and her pro-abortion agenda,” Ms. Dannenfelser said. “So far, we have more than doubled the number of pro-life women in the House, with more races to be called. Seven pro-life women candidates flipped pro-abortion Democrat-held seats.”
In the Senate, former Republican Rep. Cynthia Lummis won the Wyoming Senate race to succeed retiring Sen. Mike Enzi, while Sen. Martha McSally, Arizona Republican, to Democrat Mark Kelly.
That will keep the number of GOP women in the Senate at eight after Tuesday reelection victories for Republican Sens. Joni Ernst of Iowa, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, and Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi.
Sen. Kelly Loeffler, Georgia Republican, finished in the top two in Tuesday’s Senate primary and faces a Jan. 5 runoff election against Democrat Raphael Warnock.
“We are ‘all in’ for Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s runoff race in January and confident she will prevail,” said Ms. Dannenfelser in a statement.
She said seven of the newly elected pro-life women flipped Democratic seats, including Republican Maria Salazar of Florida, who defeated Democratic Rep. Donna Shalala after losing to her in 2018.
The other 12 newbie House Republican candidates winning their races were Yvette Herrell of New Mexico; Michelle Fischbach of Minnesota; Nancy Mace of South Carolina; Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma; Ashley Hinson of Iowa; Lauren Boebert of Colorado; Lisa McClain of Michigan; Kat Cammack of Florida; Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee; Mary Miller of Illinois, and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.
Another candidate, New York Republican Nicole Malliotokis, led Democratic Rep. Max Rose by 58% to 42%, according to The Associated Press.
In still-undecided House races, six of the eight Republican women led their contests with all or most of the vote counted.
They included Claudia Tenney, who lost her New York congressional seat in the 2018 Democratic wave but led Democratic Rep. Anthony Brindisi by 55% to 43% with 100% of the vote counted, pending the counting of absentee ballots.
The Center for American Women in Politics said 36 were in the House freshman class in 2019, which was a record. Only one was a Republican.
“With 22 House wins so far, Republican women are poised to recover the ground they lost in 2018 and could break their record of 25 House members, set in 2006, if four more Republican women win their races,” said the center.
CAWP director Debbie Walsh said that “Successes like these don’t just happen.”
“They require the dedicated attention of parties, donors, activists, and voters, as is particularly evident from the expanded number of Republican women candidates this year. It takes hard work. And the work continues,” she said.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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