Reprinted with permission from Shareblue.com
The 2018 midterm elections are already turning out to be a historic race for women. A record-breaking 309 women are running for U.S. House seats as of the beginning of April.
And according to the latest fundraising figures, women aren’t just stepping into the ring. They’re trouncing the incumbent Republican congressmen they’re running against when it comes to raising money.
More than 40 House Democratic candidates outraised Republican incumbents in the first quarter of 2018, according to the Cook Political Report. Half of those 40 Democrats are women.
From deep red districts to Democratic strongholds and everywhere in between, women are outpacing Republican congressmen in fundraising, sometimes by two-to-one margins.
Notably, this trend holds true in some of the most crucial toss-up races in Iowa, Minnesota, and California.
Abby Finkenauer, the Democratic candidate running in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, has raised $482,000. Her opponent, Republican Rep. Rod Blum, has raised just over $303,000.
In Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District, Democrat Angie Craig has raised $531,316 compared to $285,669 for her GOP opponent, Rep. Jason Lewis.
Democrat Katie Hill has raised over $70,000 more than her Republican opponent, Rep. Steve Knight, in California’s 25th Congressional District.
Even in districts marked as “solid Republican,” women are outraising the Republican men they’re challenging.
In deep red Texas, Democratic candidate MJ Hegar has raised nearly $90,000 more than Rep. John Carter, the incumbent Republican. In Alaska, Alyse Galvin has raised over $180,000 more than her Republican opponent, Rep. Don Young.
Democratic candidates Jessica Holcombe (CA-01), Marge Doyle (CA-08), Liz Watson (IN-14), Jess King (PA-11), and Mariah Phillips (TN-04) are also outraising the Republican incumbents they’re hoping to unseat.
All of those districts are Republican strongholds — or at least, they were.
Meanwhile, Republican challengers have outraised Democratic incumbents in just two seats.
“The newest [Federal Election Commission] FEC filings spell danger for Republicans,” Cook election analyst David Wasserman wrote on Wednesday.
Indeed it does. And these figures are just the latest sign of trouble for the GOP.
In recent special elections — like Alabama’s open Senate seat and Pennsylvania’s 18th District — the GOP has lost seats in deep red districts they once held comfortably.
Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee is bleeding cash trying to save Republicans in states where Trump is widely despised.
And you can thank women for much of that momentum. Fueled by massive anti-Trump backlash and a growing number of sexual misconduct scandals surrounding male politicians, women are running for office and rebuking the Republican party in unprecedented numbers.
An ABC News/Washington Post poll had more bad news for the GOP. Asked which party they would vote for in the midterm elections, 64 percent of American women said they would choose a Democratic candidate, compared to just 29 percent for Republicans �— a stunning 35-point advantage for Democrats.
In yet another sign of trouble for Republicans, the older, white voters who helped elected Trump in 2016 are now “trending toward Democrats in such numbers that their ballots could tip the scales in tight congressional races from New Jersey to California,” according to a recent Reuters polling update.
With more Republicans announcing plans to retire on a near-daily basis, the GOP will be defending far more open seats in November than Democrats, who need a gain of 23 seats to take over.
And as Republican men bow out of politics, progressive women are ready to take their place.
