The New York Times has a detailed look at how female Republican politicians were a big part of why GOP candidates over-performed in House races, something that Rich Lowry pointed out earlier today on the Corner.
Here’s more from the Times:
Republican women delivered critical victories to their party in the election, signaling the success of their efforts to recruit and elect a more diverse slate of candidates as they sought to counter Democrats’ huge advantage in adding women to their ranks in Congress.
Conservative women were nearing a historic level of representation in the House, more than doubling the number of female Republican incumbents in the chamber as they scored key upsets in battlegrounds across the country and beat back Democratic challengers flush with cash.
Republicans were celebrating their success at chipping away at Democrats’ House majority and feeling increasingly confident of maintaining control of the Senate. By Wednesday evening, they had elected 22 women and were on track to have the highest number of them serving in their congressional ranks, surpassing the previous record of 25 women elected in 2004.
Republican senators Joni Ernst (Iowa) and Susan Collins (Maine) fended off Democratic challengers in their respective reelection races, and Senator Kelly Loeffler (Georgia) will head to a runoff against her Democratic opponent on January 5.
“A woman won in nearly every district that Republicans had flipped by Wednesday, a striking statistic that bolstered the argument that conservative women could win competitive seats if they were able to make it through a primary to a general election,” the Times piece added.
This is a pretty remarkable state of affairs for a party that is often accused of (and is sometimes guilty of) being represented primarily by older white men.