EXCLUSIVE: Female Republicans in Congress are fighting to change the decadeslong narrative that paints Democrats as the party of women, hoping it transcends to significant gains in future elections.
“We’ve got to get back to our roots of being the party of women,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital. “I don’t know why we ever allowed the Democrats to hijack the narrative and claim to be the party of women. That’s bull.”
Other GOP lawmakers who spoke with Fox News Digital about this story noted that cost of living, a cornerstone issue for Republicans in the last election, was as much a women’s issue as anyone else’s.
Republicans have also passed several bills since winning that election that have put women at the focus of conservative policy changes on transgender youth and border security.
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From left to right, Reps. Nancy Mace, Nicole Malliotakis, and Ashley Hinson are at the forefront of the GOP’s push to appeal to women. (Getty Images)
“You should not let the Democrat Party tell you they’re the party of women if they can’t even define what a woman is. So we are going to continue to be strong advocates for young women and girls, whether that’s in professional spaces, in bathrooms or in sports,” said Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, referencing a recently passed bill keeping biological male student athletes out of girls’ sports teams and locker rooms.
Hinson said she is “a working mom fighting for other working moms.”
“Women are oftentimes the most important decision makers in a household, for example. So, when I’m thinking about economic indicators, how are we going to get more women in the workforce? How can we empower more women and families? How can we support more women in sports?” Hinson posed.
Historically, Malliotakis pointed out, it was Republicans who led passage of the 19th Amendment that secured women the right to vote. She also pointed out that it was under President Donald Trump that a museum dedicated to women’s history was authorized.
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Rep. Nicole Malliotakis pointed out that a Smithsonian women’s museum was authorized during President Donald Trump’s first term. (Donald Trump 2024 campaign)
“President Trump authorized in 2020 the Smithsonian Women’s History Museum. And Joe Biden did nothing with it for four years,” Malliotakis said. ” “I’ve been pushing a land transfer for the Smithsonian women’s museum to be built, and I think it makes total sense that we would be the party that would do this, considering our history.”
As a voting bloc, women have favored Democrats and the left in recent history.
Democrats have also blamed Republicans for the conservative-leaning Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, a move that did appear to translate to electoral success in the 2022 midterms.
Progressives were also historically the biggest supporters of the Equal Rights Amendment, legislation that was pushed primarily during the second-wave feminist movement.
However, Republican women like Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., are now arguing that bills like hers, which would deport illegal immigrants who commit sex crimes against women and other Americans, are what it takes to protect women.
Freshman Rep. Julie Fedorchak pointed out she was the highest vote-getter in her state this past year. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)
“MAGA is the new feminist,” Mace wrote on X this month.
Additionally, Rep. Julie Fedorchak, R-N.D., one of the few Republican women in the 119th Congress’ freshmen class, pointed out that her own story was a testament to GOP meritocracy.
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“I was the largest vote-getter in my whole state out of anybody, as a woman, as the first congresswoman in our state. So I think more than anything else, people want folks who are primed for the job, who are competent and ready,” Fedorchak said.
“The cost of everything, making ends meet, helping women manage their multiple roles, getting government out of their lives, helping reinforce the role of parents…these are things that are women’s issues.”
