Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is aiming to win the House majority in 2022 by supporting 23 qualified women candidates through her E-PAC, she told reporters Wednesday in the Republican National Committee’s headquarters just yards from the Capitol Building.
Stefanik, who is the third highest ranking Republican House member after displacing Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) in 2021, launched the PAC after the 2018 election. Only 2.9 percent of elected members were female in 2018. “I know we could improve that,” she told reporters.
The PAC specifically supports candidates who raised over $200,000 in the first quarter, have a strong voice in their district, and know how to combat the establishment media, Stefanik said in light of the establishment media’s bias towards Democrats.
Of the 23 candidates supported by the PAC, six are in running in districts former President Trump won in 2020, 13 are districts President Biden won by less than 10 points, and four are in districts Biden won by more than 10 points.
Some of the notable American First-type candidates E-PAC supports are Anna Paulina Luna (FL), Madison Gesiotto Gilbert (OH), Sarah Palin (AK), Harriet Hageman (WY), and Karoline Leavitt (NH).
This Oct. 29, 2020 photo shows Anna Paulina Luna, Republican candidate for U.S. House of Representatives before President Donald Trump, and First Lady Melania Trump speak at a campaign rally in Tampa, Florida. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
Since its inception, E-PAC has raised and donated over $4 million to GOP women candidates, including more than $1,000,000 directly to GOP women campaigns. The PAC has also helped book more than 100 national TV interviews for candidates and worked with campaigns to boost earned media (free press coverage) to elevate the campaigns in the home districts.
Stefanik said the PAC’s media initiative is important because the establishment media does not provide the same media coverage of Republican women as it does Democrats women. “Republican women don’t get the same fair coverage,” she said in light of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) September GQ Magazine cover.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) on Thursday, April 7, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Stefanik showcased many of the candidates’ professionally produced television ads airing in the candidates’ home districts. Each of the ads spoke about reducing President Joe Biden’s soaring inflation.
When the reporters in the room realized the ads spoke about the common theme of soaring prices from the pump to the grocery, reporters from Bloomberg and Axios questioned why the ads ignored the less relevant topic of abortion.
“Inflation is the number issue,” Stefanik replied.
According to a recent Ipsos poll, the nation’s top issues remain Biden’s struggling economy, specifically inflation (30 percent), and immigration (8 percent). Crime (8 percent) rounded out the top three most important issues for Americans.
Although the establishment media has claimed that inflation fell in August, over the past 12 months, grocery prices have gone up 13.5 percent.
Stefanik’s hand-picked candidates highlighting the rising cost of living will likely help Republicans reclaim the House. The GOP only needs five seats overall to take back the House from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
Last week, Pelosi claimed Democrats will actually pick up seats in November. Pelosi was widely ridiculed for her opinion. “We’ve heard this one last cycle and know how it turned out. @SpeakerPelosi’s days in the majority are numbered,” National Republican Congressional Committee communications director Michael McAdams recalled.
According to a recent Rasmussen Reports poll, a Republican leads on the generic ballot by one point.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.