Dr. Joan Perry and Rep. Greg Murphy have a lot in common. They were both candidates in the primary run-off for North Carolina’s third congressional district. They’re both doctors. They’re both Republicans. They’re both against abortion. But they also have one key difference — Murphy is advancing to the general election, and Perry isn’t. On July 9, in a race to fill a seat in Congress left by Walter Jones when he died, Murphy took home 60 percent of the vote, while Perry garnered only 40. 

This outcome highlights the Republican Party’s consistent struggle to elect women. While the results of the 2018 midterm election broke records for women’s representation, most of the victories were on the Democrats’ side. Democrats sent 89 women to the House of Representatives, while the number of Republican women in the House fell from 23 to 13. 

But why aren’t Republican women winning?

"Being a politics major, most of the intellectual spaces available to me are dominated by men, so working with a team of driven and intelligent women at RepresentWomen is refreshing. I look forward to learning something new from all of them."

"Being a woman who wants to go into politics, I’ve always been acutely aware of the representation gap we face. However, I don’t think I truly saw all of the benefits increased representation can bring until this year."

"I remember that when I was in sixth grade, my teacher told me that I should stop being so “bossy”, otherwise people would not like me. After getting angry and complaining about why she didn’t say the same to the boys, one of my classmates called me a “feminist”. Neither of them meant those descriptions in a good way, obviously. The indignation I felt in that moment is something that has followed me throughout the years, motivating my decisions and actions. With time I learnt to not only appreciate the term “feminist”, but to use it as a banner."

"Being a female athlete all my life and now at the collegiate level, very few women have coached me. Yes, it is true that more and more women are coaching women, but people often forget that almost no women are coaching men. After playing basketball up until college, it had always stuck out to me is that there were little to none women coaching men’s basketball. In politics and athletics, there are too many firsts that have not occurred yet for women."

"Legislative Assembly President Carolina Hidalgo (third from left) and leadership" (Legislative Assembly via The Tico Times)

While there are several reasons I believe in efforts to support female candidates, my semester abroad in Costa Rica gave me a new perspective on gender parity pursuits. Studying their electoral system and gender quota laws prompted me to consider what institutional reforms would look like in the United States and strengthened my dedication to advocacy surrounding this topic.