House gender gap between GOP, Dems widens after midterms

The gender gap for Republicans in the House is set to widen in the next Congress as the party prepares to enter the minority.

In the 115th Congress, Democrats had 64 female members, including delegates, while Republicans had 25. Following the election of a record number of women on Tuesday, Democrats will have at least 90 female lawmakers while Republicans will have between 15 and 18 depending on the outcome of the races that are too close to be called, according to data provided by Quorum Analytics.

{mosads}While California Republicans Rep. Mimi Walters and candidate Young Kim are up in their as-yet-uncalled races, Republicans could potentially sustain another loss in Utah’s 4th District, where Rep. Mia Love is trailing behind her Democratic opponent, Ben McAdams, by a small margin.  

With six female GOP members having announced their retirement and House Republicans facing stiff headwinds in the midterms, their efforts to bring more women to Congress were ultimately unsuccessful, despite doubling their number of female candidates.

“During the 2018 Midterms, a record 256 women appeared on House and Senate ballots on election day —197 Democrats and 59 Republicans. 234 women ran for House seats while 22 ran for Senate seats,” Quorum Analytics said in its report. 

“So, what happened on election day? In the House, Democrats had a net gain of 26 women, while Republicans had a net loss of ten women. In the Senate, Democrats had a net loss of one woman, while Republicans had no net gain or loss.”