Republican women running for Congress seek to change media narrative: GOP is 'not a monolith'

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Media outlets have, for years, claimed that women overwhelmingly vote for Democrats, a narrative that several Republican women running for Congress in the 2022 midterms say is changing. 

In 2020, the Atlantic Magazine wrote about "Why Men Vote for Republicans, and Women Vote for Democrats," citing education, socioeconomic status and employment within the government as reasons women vote for the Democratic Party. 

Wednesday, a New York Times column explained "What We Know About the Women Who Vote for Republicans and the Men Who Do Not."

"What explains the presence of millions of men in the Democratic Party and millions of women in the Republican Party? What distinguishes these two constituencies, whose partisanship runs against the grain?" author Thomas Edsall wrote.

Thomas Edsall wrote in the New York Times, "What We Know About the Women Who Vote for Republicans and the Men Who Do Not" (Fox News)

This is a stereotype also perpetuated by Hillary Clinton, who claimed she lost the 2016 presidential race in part because White women didn’t stand up to the men in their lives pressuring them to vote for Donald Trump.

Morgan Ortagus, a Republican running for Congress in Tennessee, told Fox News Digital the liberal media "want women around the country to believe that there is one way to be a woman that breaks the glass ceiling or that … does something unusual or heroic." 

"And Republicans, we never get the accolades … for the things that we do, we never get the magazine covers, which is fine," she added.

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Contrary to this media narrative, recent data shows women are as likely to vote for Republicans as they are Democrat. According to a Rasmussen report, 50% of women prefer Republican candidates on a generic ballot. 

House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik. (Tom Williams )

Rep. Elise Stefanik, who founded Elevate PAC to support women candidates, told Fox News Digital she is trying to change the narrative about Republican women.

"For so long, the media coverage, certainly when I first got to Congress, was very focused on highlighting and elevating Democrat women candidates who were running for office or Democrat female elected officials and not really focusing the attention on really incredible Republican women candidates and current incumbents who have stepped up and have just really inspiring personal stories," she said.

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Stefanik also called out "glossy fashion magazines" for only highlighting Democratic women. 

One example of this treatment comes from Vogue Magazine, which featured the past three Democratic first ladies on its cover, but not a Republican.

Several candidates endorsed by Stefanik’s PAC said they are changing the narrative about Republican women in politics. 

Arizona candidate Tanya Contreras Wheeless said having more women running for Congress as Republicans "shows all sides of the Republican Party." 

"We're not a monolith. And I think when you have women running, we do talk about some of the issues sometimes that may not be talked about as often with our male counterparts," she said.

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Madison Gilbert, who is running for Congress from Ohio, said unlike Democrats, Republicans don’t recruit women candidates based on identity politics, but encourage qualified women to run. 

"You don’t want someone running just because of their gender," she said. "You want the most qualified people across the country running." 

Gilbert added that women will bring a different perspective to Congress. 

"We want people … representing people all across the country, whether that be getting more women into the Republican Party into positions of power or more minorities," she said. "And so just having people that … people across the country will look at and identify with, the thing is critical."

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Stefanik was hopeful that electing more Republican women to Congress would mean the Republican conference would more accurately represent the people they represent. 

Going from 13 to 30 Republican women in Congress has already made the conference "so much more effective," she said. 

"And it’s only going to get better."