#I’mWithHer
By Caroline Downey
Dismissing the GOP as the party of “old white men,” Democrats claim to command the female electorate and to dominate the supply of strong political women. The mainstream press dedicates many pages to highlighting the “squad,” composed of Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Cori Bush, and a handful of other radical progressive congresswomen. But not all women are moved by their messaging. As they struggle to afford groceries and gas, protest for curricula transparency in their children’s public schools while being demonized as domestic terrorists, and fight for their daughters to compete on a fair playing field without facing male competitors, millions of women are gravitating toward female Republican contenders who care about the issues that matter to them. They’re saying: #I’mWithHer.
On the GOP gubernatorial docket is Tudor Dixon, who seeks to oust Governor Gretchen Whitmer in November. Amid rising crime in the Great Lake State, Dixon has made supporting law enforcement a major priority, in contrast to her incumbent opponent, who has flirted with the “defund the police” movement. A mother to four girls, she pledges to bring quality education back to K-12 with plans to crack down on critical race theory and gender ideology. Dixon joins the ranks of the female TV anchor candidates, giving her an edge in effective, empathetic messaging.
Fellow former media personality Kari Lake is taking Arizona by storm, leading an unconventional campaign for governor against Democratic secretary of state, Katie Hobbs. As of Friday, October 14, Lake is leading Hobbs 0.9 percent, according to a polling average from FiveThirtyEight. This prediction is despite Hobbs outspending Lake seven-to-one on the campaign trail. Lake has been identified as a rising GOP star who seems to have the irreplaceable and rare qualities for a winning ticket: conviction and charisma.
Summer 2022 was a season of saying “goodbye” to political dynasties. While on the Democratic side, insufferable mother-daughter duo Hillary and Chelsea Clinton are still on their PR tour, meeting with Megan Thee Stallion, Kelly Clarkson, and other Hollywood elites, a number of legacy Republicans begrudgingly hung up their hats this year. However, in Arkansas, a familiar face is vying to win the post her father, former governor Mike Huckabee, once held. Former Trump White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, known for her tenacity and poker face in the briefing room, is leading a heartfelt but bold campaign to combat the radical policies coming out of Washington and keep them out of her state. She’s promised to be tough on crime, demand federal accountability on the economy, and help build an Arkansas and America in which families and children can prosper.
In deep-blue Oregon, the governor’s race remains a “toss-up” between Republican candidate Christine Drazan and Democrat Tina Kotek. Drazan has managed a very difficult task in a state that’s home to Portland, one of the most radical leftist cities in America: she has held to her pro-life views while appealing to a very pro-choice electorate. In this way, she’s been regarded as a Republican realist, while exposing a slate of liberal policy failures, such as Covid-19 tyranny, inflation, and housing prices. If elected, Drazan would be the Beaver State’s first Republican governor since 1987.
Taking Ron DeSantis’s leadership in Florida as an example, Republican governorships are crucial bulwarks against federal overreach. However, the House and Senate races in this midterm election are the real determinants for whether the country has a fighting chance to get back on its feet from energy, supply, border, and culture crises.
Among the electric female GOP candidates coming up to bat are multiple minorities, but you’d never hear that from the likes of Vogue or Vanity Fair. In Virginia, Hispanic law enforcement officer Yesli Vega has campaigned on law and order and public safety, border security, tackling inflation, election reform, and competent foreign policy. As some other Republicans shy away from the abortion issue, she’s courageously backed Senator Lindsey Graham’s federal pro-life proposal, which would ban the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy, matching the restrictions already set by many European nations.
The daughter of a Guatemalan immigrant mother and a Chicago-born business-owner father, GOP congressional nominee Catalina Lauf is challenging Democratic incumbent Bill Foster for Illinois’ eleventh district. As the Biden administration’s lax border security policies fuel an unprecedented flood of illegal migrants over the border, Lauf has sounded the alarm on sex and drug trafficking. After losing her primary in 2020, Lauf is bringing the heat again.
Another Hispanic woman, of Mexican descent, and former servicewoman in the U.S. Air Force, Anna Paulina Luna has made veteran’s advocacy a cornerstone of her campaign. African-American Iraq veteran Jennifer-Ruth Green is seeking a congressional seat in Indiana, standing firm against the opposition and media scrutiny, even after Politico published records of her sexual assault in the military against her will. Italian-American Madison Gesiotto Gilbert, running in Ohio’s 13th District, has advocated for the American worker and the unborn baby in the womb. As a recession hits under President Biden’s watch, Gilbert has emphasized the importance of supporting American labor, especially manufacturing jobs, in the Buckeye state.
New Hampshire GOP congressional nominee Karoline Leavitt could be one of the first members of Gen Z to serve in Congress if she wins her general election. After defeating her Democratic adversary, a veteran of politics, in the primary, Leavitt is heading into November with a platform of cutting regulations and free market policies, and at just 25 years old. In Wyoming, Harriet Hageman, an attorney and native of the state, shocked the GOP when she took the nomination from incumbent Representative Liz Cheney, the daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney. Winning 66 percent of the vote to Cheney’s 28.9 percent in the primary, Hageman says she will represent her conservative constituents better than her predecessor.
While facing an uphill battle to best four-time Democratic senator for Washington state, Patty Murray, Tiffany Smiley is on a mission to be the first Republican that Washingtonians elect to the Senate since 1994. She’s been on a warpath over the Democrats’ gargantuan spending packages and President Biden’s illegal student debt wipeout, determined to help get the U.S. economy back on track. In another potential upset to the old guard GOP, which many Republicans feel isn’t aggressive enough to counter the radical Left, Kelly Tshibaka has been projected to beat 20-year incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski in Alaska, who is regarded as one of the most liberal Republican senators. Education, the economy, and gun rights are the most critical issues today, Tshibaka says. Republicans nationwide would agree with her.
Caroline Downey is the Editor-in-Chief of The Conservateur and an education reporter at National Review. She can be found on Twitter @carolinedowney_.
