IN THE NEWS
National Geographic
100 Years of Suffrage: The Fight for Women's Representation Continues
“From the Republican perspective, we're about 20 years behind the Democrats in terms of building the pipeline and infrastructure to support wider female races," says Ariel Hill-Davis, co-founder of Republican Women for Progress, one of several groups recently created to support female Republican candidates. "There are more Gregs and Mikes in the Republican conference on the House side than there are women.”
Marie Claire
100 Influential Women on Why They’re Voting in the 2020 Election
“I run an organization that works to uplift women in the political process and every day I hear their stories. I hear how they are dealing with a system that is still rigged against them. And I also hear about why they are running and how they are beating the odds; there’s nothing better than hearing from them after they won. So you want to know why I vote? It’s for my family, my friends, and it’s for those women who are fighting every day for a better America.”
19th News
What it takes to build a nonpartisan pipeline for women candidates
Jennifer Pierotti Lim is co-founder of Republican Women for Progress, a group that works to help GOP women run for office. She believes the Republican Party hasn’t had a strategy in electing women to office, and her group works independently from the party to encourage GOP women to run, supporting them in the primary process.
Forbes
Women Are Running Like Their Lives Depend On It
The successes of women who ran in 2018 are having a residual effect on the 2020 crop of Republican women running said Meghan Milloy, co-founder of the Republican Women for Progress. They look at the Democratic women and think “if they could do it, so can we.”
Newsweek
Women Were Supposed to Stop Trump From Getting Elected in 2016—This Time It Might Actually Happen
The Republican Party has long known about its problem with female voters, but 2020 could seal its fate.
Vox
Why more Republican women are running for the House than ever before
“In the 1980s, Democratic women looked around and said we’re really not being well represented in the party,” says Kodiak Hill-Davis, political director of Republican Women for Progress. “We’ve realized that we have to build the same kind of tools” as Emily’s List.
States of Mind
Podcast: The Women Issue
Women from both sides of the political divide discuss Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s record with women and explore what it means to be a woman involved in politics in 2020.
Common Ground Solutions
Common Ground on Elections: Protecting the Vote
Last week, we wrote about the challenges of holding elections in a year upended by coronavirus. Since then, we’ve started to see some of those challenges unfold.
The Hill
Op-ed: Time to build the Republican Party back into what Americans deserve
The ongoing shutdown is the latest example of political incapacity and unwillingness to govern, made all the more shameful by the fact the shutdown began while the Republicans controlled both chambers of Congress and the presidency.
InStyle
How Republican Women Are Pushing for Change Within Their Party
Lifelong Republicans Jennifer Pierotti Lim and Meghan Milloy both grew up in conservative Bible Belt families, campaigned for George W. Bush, and endorse fiscal policies that lower taxes to boost the economy. But they admit to feeling abandoned by their party in 2016, when Donald Trump clinched the GOP’s presidential nomination.
U.S. News
For GOP, the Year of the Woman Has Not Yet Arrived
There are 60 percent more female candidates in 2018 than there were in 2016 – but few of them are Republicans.
ABA Journal
Meet the groups helping to get women elected
There have also been recent efforts to increase the network of Republican women interested in politics. The Campaign School joined forces with Republican Women for Progress in March 2019 for its first basics training for nearly 65 Republican women.
Voice of America
Here's How Women Leaders Govern Differently
A record number of women currently serve in the U.S. Congress. They hold 23.5% of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives in the aftermath of the 2018 midterm elections. About a quarter of the Senate — 26 out of 100 senators — are female.
POLITICO Women Rule
How women are changing statehouses
Part of RWFP’s mission is to develop and support the pipeline of Republican women who want to run for office.
Voice of America
Why Women Candidates Run Shadow Campaigns Along with Public Ones
It’s often an unspoken question on the campaign trail. Are Americans ready to elect a woman president?
CBS News
After midterm losses, Republicans ramp up efforts to elect more women to Congress
The U.S. House has a problem with Republican women. There aren't that many of them. Only 13 Republican women were elected to the U.S. House last year — the lowest number since 1995.
New Jersey Globe
GOP women’s group blast Palatucci
A Republican women’s organization blasted New Jersey Republican National Committeeman Bill Palatucci who told Republicans not to donate to Rosemary Becchi’s congressional campaign.
The New York Times
‘Don’t Run This Year’: The Perils for Republican Women Facing a Flood of Resistance
The energy in the midterms is working against female Republican candidates who are reluctant or unable to claim any advantage to being a woman among voters.
Vox
The #MeToo movement and its evolution, explained
From charges against Harvey Weinstein to the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the ongoing drive for accountability, here’s where the movement stands today.
Bustle
Republican Women For Progress Say Kavanaugh's "Diminished" Credibility Means He Shouldn't Be Confirmed
Another group of women has asked senators to vote down Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court. In a statement issued on Monday, Republican Women for Progress came out against Kavanaugh’s nomination, arguing that he “no longer meets the high standard expected of Supreme Court justices.”
Texas Observer
They Persisted
These candidates are back in the ring to prove that 2018 wasn’t a singular “year of the woman.”
GEN
Why Can’t the GOP Elect Women to Office?
Conservative PACs desperately trying to get more Republican women elected have their work cut out for them.
The Politic
Republican Women in Congress
In American politics, 1992 is often considered the Year of the Woman: 23 women gained seats in Congress in the wake of the Anita Hill controversy. A generation later, the 2018 election offers a much better example of women’s representation in Congress, with 117 women elected to the House or Senate. But across these two groundbreaking election cycles, just 20 of 140 newly elected women were Republicans.
TODAY Show
Republican women open up about the party’s future
The 2018 midterm elections were record-breaking for women, but that progress was mostly limited to one side of the aisle. As the 2020 race heats, up a surge of Republican women are preparing to tackle that challenge head one.
NBC News
More Republican women than ever are planning to run for office
A record number of women hold seats in Congress, but they are mostly Democrats. Now, new contenders are hoping to shift the imbalance in D.C. and beyond.
Independent Journal Review
GOP Voters Show They Don’t Care if Women Run for Office — Some Argue That Could Hurt the Party’s Future
Many Republican voters really don’t seem to care if conservative women are represented in elected office, according to a new study by the Republican Women for Progress.
GW Today
Women Political Candidates Discuss Campaign Losses
GSPM event brought together Republican and Democratic women candidates to discuss what they learned from losing in political races during midterm primary elections.
Vox
Republican women care about sexual harassment, but their party isn’t listening
In the #MeToo era, some conservative women find themselves isolated.
The Middletown Press
Ken Dixon: Don’t just wait for the matriarchy
I am thinking about the emerging matriarchy, which I eagerly await. The men are on the verge of ruining the world. Here it is, ladies. Take it. Good luck. Beware of the spent nuclear-fuel pools!
Huffington Post
Republican Women Grapple With Winning Back Suburban Female Voters
“People want to see more of themselves in office, and we have work to do.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer
In the women’s movement of 2019, where do Republicans fit in?
A few days before the Pennsylvania primary last May, a group of left-leaning Philadelphia women held a nonpartisan forum so voters could get to know the candidates for lieutenant governor.
Independent Journal Review
Crumbling Women’s March Leadership Could Lead to Welcomed Change for Conservative Women
The Women’s March has been struggling to stay above ground as accusations of anti-Semitism continue to rock the national leadership team.
The Hill
Op-ed: How Republicans can win back suburban vote in next election
The defeats suffered by Republican candidates in suburban swing districts handed control of the House to Democrats for the first time since 2010. Those defeats, while largely a referendum on President Trump, also reveal significant challenges that Republicans will continue to face in suburbia in coming elections.
Women belong in the House
Podcast: Let's Talk About the Elephant in the Room
This week we're talking about women and the GOP. Host Jenny Kaplan speaks with Cristina Osmeña, a Republican running in CA-14. Experts share their perspectives on why the Republican party is lagging when it comes to recruiting women candidates and how that could affect the party moving forward.
The New York Times
For Female Candidates, Harassment and Threats Come Every Day
The abuse already common in many women’s everyday lives can be amplified in political campaigns, especially if the candidate is also a member of a minority group.
Real Clear Politics
Republican Women Frustrated by Trump's Approach to Abuse Charges
The Trump White House’s handling of abuse charges against men in its midst is frustrating prominent Republican women as the party’s yearslong struggle to attract female voters stretches into the 2018 midterm elections.
Vice
Could a Democratic Victory in Mississippi Stop Millennials from Fleeing?
Tuesday's election could decide a lot more than who sits in the US Senate—it could set the tone for the future of the state.
Forbes
Why Republican Women Get No Love
“Where are the Republican women?” news anchor Katie Couric asks us as she watches an early trailer for SURGE, a documentary about the record number of first-time female candidates running for office in 2018.
Vice
"The party won’t survive”: Lack of Republican women in office could endanger the GOP
Only 13 Republican women have so far won seats in the House, compared to 89 Democratic women.
Time
Elissa Slotkin Wants the Democrats to Be the Party of Patriotism
Many of the Democratic women who are running for office for the first time this year consider themselves part of the “Resistance” to President Donald Trump’s agenda. Not Elissa Slotkin.
Al Jazeera
Could swing voters sway the crucial US midterm elections?
Americans go to the polls on November 6 in an election seen as a referendum on President Trump's policies.
New Jersey Globe
GOP women super PAC ad backs Sherrill
Digital ad features Madison woman who says she’s a lifelong Republican.
Refinery29
What It's Like To Run For Office As A Republican Woman Of Color
In 2018, the Year of the Woman, I ran for Congress as a Republican in the 14th district of California. I ran where Republican registration was 13.6%, a district that was largely treated with neglect by the state and national parties. I wasn’t trained; I wasn’t funded; I wasn’t known.
The New York Times
‘It Can’t Be Worse’: How Republican Women Are Trying to Rebuild
For Republican women, 2018 was rock bottom. At least, that’s how Julie Conway, a Republican consultant, described it to students attending the Women’s Campaign School at Yale.
Institut Montaigne
Midterms 2018 - a Wind of Change for U.S. Politics?
Meghan Milloy and Stacy Meichtry explain the consequences of a split Congress for the President’s agenda and analyse to what extent those elections brought a wind of change in US politics.
Vox
Trump won the Rust Belt with macho. These women hope to win with change.
After 2016, some Democrats said it would take machismo to win back states like Michigan. The midterms look set to prove them wrong.
Salon
Republicans fed up with Trump: GOP women's PAC backs Democrats in the midterms
Republican women who oppose President Donald Trump have already put $50,000 to flip the House blue.
The Detroit News
Fed up with political tone, women crossing party lines in Mich.
Suburban, college-educated women are expected to play an out-sized role in next week’s midterm elections, as Democrats endeavor to take control of the U.S. House, the Michigan Legislature and the governor's mansion.
WTAE
VIDEO: Rhetoric Heats Up Days Before Midterm Elections
Twelve days until voters cast their midterm ballots, the political climate intensifies as more suspicious packages are sent to various locations. Heated rhetoric, coming from both sides, has Americans saying the country is greatly divided.
The Hill
Morning Report
RW(F)P was started by Republican women but will support candidates in both parties.
PBS: To the Contrary
Trump’s Insults Towards Women; Women of Color & Midterms
Behind the Headlines: Women’s movements before the midterms. There is the inaugural “She the People” summit, billed as the first national gathering for women of color involved in progressive politics and there’s Republican Women for Progress.
Huffington Post
Republicans Are Losing Female Lawmakers ― That’s Bad for Democrats, Too
The GOP is now actively holding back gender equality in Congress and beyond.
The Femsplainers Podcast
PODCAST: Think You're Angry & Have Problems?
The Republican Women for Progress faces the thankless task of trying to bring moderate female voters back to the GOP. Christina and Danielle talk girl politics and more in this special mid-term election podcast.
Huffington Post
Eyeing the Midterms, Some Republican Women Are Taking On The ‘Aging, White’ GOP
Republican women candidates are fighting for a voice.
Politico
Playbook PM
REPUBLICAN WOMEN FOR PROGRESS is ramping up its political arm. The group, co-founded by JENNIFER PIEROTTI LIM and MEGHAN MILLOY, has raised $1 MILLION from REID HOFFMAN, founder of LinkedIn, KATHRYN MURDOCH, co-founder and president of Quadrivium Foundation, and DAN TIERNEY, of KCG Holdings, for its recently launched PAC.
Metro Times
Fed up with Trump, a GOP women's PAC is backing Dems in two key Michigan races
A political action committee run by Republican women opposed to Donald Trump is getting involved in Michigan's most competitive Congressional races — and supporting the Democrat candidates.
Huffington Post
With Kavanaugh Confirmation, GOP Commits Again To Patriarchy, Misogyny
The GOP is now essentially the last bastion of male dominance in a Me Too world.
Time
How Christine Blasey Ford’s Testimony Changed America
History often seems inexorable in hindsight, shaped by powerful figures operating beyond our control. But when Dr. Christine Blasey Ford walked in to face the Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 27, raised her right hand and swore to tell the truth, it was clear that an unassuming psychology professor and mother of two was about to change the course of current events in real time.
CBC Radio
If Kavanaugh is confirmed, Democrats could still impeach him, says Republican activist
Supreme Court justice should be absolutely above reproach, says Meghan Milloy.
StarTribune
As hearing looms, GOP's woman problem never more apparent
Eleven Republican men, backed by a Republican president plagued by sex scandal, will soon judge the credibility of a woman accusing President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault.
National Journal
#MeToo Reverberates Through Midterms
The movement that has knocked down powerful men from Hollywood to Congress is rippling through this fall's top campaign issues, including health care policy.
Yahoo!
Why conservative women are still supporting Brett Kavanaugh
Last week’s Brett Kavanaugh hearing — which focused on accusations of sexual assault and attempted rape leveraged against him by Christine Blasey Ford — polarized and enraged Americans, and (for an internet instant) seemingly froze time.
Vice
What Does the GOP Need Women For?
Republican women say their party has used them as pawns to help push through Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation—and that this strategy is nothing new.
WTOP
Private school alumnae support Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford
It might have been cold and dreary out on Sunday, but that didn’t stop Holton-Arms alumnae from holding a candlelight vigil outside the White House to support Christine Blasey Ford, Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Where are the GOP’s women? Congress’s next generation fared poorly in 2018 primaries
The GOP’s rightward march is boxing out its next generation of female leaders, many of whom are now too moderate to survive today’s Republican primary system, according to a strategist working to increase the party’s female representation in Congress.
Al Jazeera
Can Trump protect Kavanaugh?
US president's pick for a seat in the Supreme Court is accused of sexual assault, possibly derailing the nomination.
Newsweek
Christine Blasey Ford's Testimony Against Brett Kavanaugh Could Be Disastrous for the Republican Party
Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court was once seen as a big win for the Republican Party, providing a much-needed opportunity to energize its voter base before November's crucial midterm elections.
Smart Cities Dive
Is 2018 the 'Year of the Woman' in mayoral races?
While it is tricky to track candidates for local office, experts agreed the trend-lines indicate more females running for the top job in their cities.
The Hill
Op-ed: Trump's woman problem may cost the GOP the House
President Trump has a woman problem — and it has nothing to do with Stormy Daniels or Omarosa.
MSNBC
Video: What challenges do Republican women running for office face in 2018?
A record number of women are running for Congress in November; however, one group is telling Republican women “don’t run this year.”
PBS News Hour
Female candidates are talking more about sexual misconduct. Will voters care?
A growing number of women running for office in 2018 are making opposition to sexual harassment and assault part of their campaigns.
Newsweek
Majority of Republican Voters Support Roe V. Wade as GOP Continues Crackdown on Abortion Rights
A majority of Republican voters do not support overturning the nation's landmark Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion—but there is little sign of that from those representing the GOP, either in Congress or the White House.
Huffington Post
Republican Women Running For Office Find Politics Is All About Trump
Meghan Milloy’s mission is to get more Republican women in office. As co-founder and executive director of Republican Women for Progress, she believes “Democracy works better when it represents everyone,” and to her that means gender parity in both parties.
Business Insider
How Nicolle Wallace went from a top GOP operative to a stranger in her own party
Nicolle Wallace, formerly President George W. Bush's communications director and now the host of MSNBC's "Deadline: White House," is one of the GOP's most outspoken critics of the president.
BBC
Video: Stormy Daniels’ allegations ‘will damage Trump’
President Trump denies having had an affair and his lawyer denies threatening Ms Daniels. Meghan Milloy is a co-founder of Republican Women for Progress. What impact is this story having in the US?
Bustle
Young Republican Women Are Ready To Run & The Reasons Why Will Totally Surprise You
Jenifer Sarver, a Republican running for Congress in Texas, did not vote for Donald Trump. But she's eager, like so many other women in this country, to make her mark on the political world.
WDBJ7
Video: Standing room only for Roanoke's second Women's March
People from all walks of life made their way to the Women's March in Roanoke to speak out. For some it was their first march, but for others a tradition they want to pass down.
Newsweek
Women Candidates Aren't All Running Against Trump—Republicans Say They Are Answering a Different Call
Women running for office in 2018 aren't all part of the resistance.
Associated Press
Video: Undecided GOP Women Face Tough Decision
Jennifer Lim has been a lifelong Republican. But now she's campaigning for Hillary Clinton. A strange sight, given she's a registered Republican. But she feels she had no choice.
CBC News
Video: Republican Women for Hillary
Anti-Trump organizer Meghan Milloy discusses why she doesn't want to see Donald Trump in the White House.