Year Without GOP Women

Earlier this week (while I was off on vacation) there were some Presidential primaries, which you probably heard about. There were also some primaries for congressional races, which leads me to update the status of women Republicans running for seats in the US House of Representatives -- which I suggested a month ago is not looking very promising for those hoping to see some improvement on the current rate of just 10% of House Republicans. 

Primaries have now been held in 71 districts (in six states -- Alabama, Illinois, Maryland, Mississippi, Ohio, and Pennsylvania), or just over one-fifth nearly one-sixth [corrected math error!] of the total.

Three incumbent GOP women were running in those 71 primaries. One of them, Jeanne Schmidt of Ohio, lost. The other two are Martha Roby in AL-2, and Judy Biggert in IL-11. Roby looks safe, but Biggert is widely considered a tossup in the general election.

Only four other women have won their Republican primaries. All four are running against incumbent Democrats who are considered safe for re-election this year. They are Nancy Jacobs (MD-2), Faith Loudon (MD-4), Marisha Agana (OH 13), and Laureen Cummings (PA-17).

So, to recap: in these 71 districts, there are currently three Republican women in Congress; that number will drop to either two or one after the November election.

Not a great start.

Update: For comparison, Democrats have nominated 23 women (including seven incumbents) in those 71 districts. Plus Eleanor Holmes Norton as shadow representative in DC.