The Daily - The Plan to Elect Republican Women

Episode Date: July 10, 2019

Out of 198 Republicans in the House of Representatives, just 13 are women. This week, a closely watched election in North Carolina may help determine how serious the party is about changing that. Guest: Julie Hirschfeld Davis, who covers Congress for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Background reading: Dr. Greg Murphy, a state representative and urological surgeon, defeated Dr. Joan Perry, a pediatrician, in a race that set off a clash at the highest levels of the Republican Party.After watching Democratic women make historic gains in the 2018 midterm election, Republican women have decided to adopt the Democrats’ strategy for themselves.

From The New York Times, I'm Michael Bavaro. This is The Daily. Today, out of 198 Republicans in the House of Representatives, just 13 are women. This week, a closely watched election in North Carolina may help determine how serious the party is about changing that. It's Wednesday, July 10th. Senate Press.

Hey, I'm trying to reach Julie Davis. Sure, hold on one second. Let me see if she's here. Hello? Hey, it's Michael. Hey, how are you? Good. It really is amazing that the same exact piece of classical music plays every time you call the press. It's on an endless loop.

The United States Senate. Julie Davis covers Congress for The Times. That's what they have to play for you. Okay. Julie, we've all heard the story of what happened with Democratic women in the midterms. They ran in record numbers, and they won in record numbers. Julie, we've all heard the story of what happened with Democratic women in the midterms. They ran in record numbers and they won in record numbers. But what about the Republican women?

The story when it came to Republican women was almost the direct opposite. Democrats are going to probably expand their ranks of women by a third, while Republicans could lose up to a third of their current women. Republican women hit their lowest level in 25 years, only 13 women elected. But more broadly than that, you know, the entire cycle was a disaster for the Republican Party because they lost the majority. And a lot of the reason that they lost the majority is because you had these Democratic women who, as you said, ran in record numbers, knocking off, in many cases, Republican men. Of the 33 House seats that were flipped by Democrats, 22 of them were with female candidates. And of the three House seats...

In some really competitive districts, including districts that President Trump had won. Julie, what was the takeaway for the Republican Party after those midterm results? Julie, what was the takeaway for the Republican Party after those midterm results? Well, the takeaway was a much broader recognition than there had been in the past, that they really needed to figure out a better strategy for recruiting and supporting women to run for office in the Republican Party. There had been voices, Republican women who had been talking for a long time about the fact that this is a weak point for the party. This is something that they had to work on. This is something they had to build up to.

Democrats were better at this than Republicans were. But after the midterms in 2018, it kind of hit everyone like a ton of bricks that this is not just something to work on. This is a crisis. So now you have people like Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader in the House. Does the Republican Party have a problem with women? We have a lot of room to grow. We don't have a problem with women. Starting to agree that the party actually may have to start getting involved early in the process. So, of course, they had more women coming forward. We can do better in recruitment. And that's what I'm excited about doing. Recruiting and putting their thumb on the scales in a primary to actually say, you know, okay, we're going to support this woman so that she can make it to the general election

and have a strong chance of competing against the Democrat. So this has been a really hot topic of discussion among Republicans basically since the midterms, and you have all of these party leaders and outside groups thinking about how do they figure out a way to recruit and promote and elect more women. And it was fascinating because last month at an event in Washington, I want to start out by acknowledging some of my colleagues who are here. Put on by one of these groups called Winning for Women. They launched this initiative to elect 20 Republican women in 2020. And Susan Brooks, who is the recruitment chair for the Republican House campaign arm, told this really interesting story about her own primary. Back in 2012, when I first ran, I was in a very tough seven-way primary, okay? I was the only woman running.

I had never run. People out here didn't know me. Where she did not have the support of any of the party leadership. And the one member of Congress who endorsed her, she said, was Kathy McMorris Rogers. And I will never forget that. Who was the only woman in Republican leadership at the time. And she came out in favor of Susan Brooks, and she ended up winning the primary by 1% margin. So essentially, she kind of squeaked through.

And then she told the story of how all the Republican leaders, after she won... And I loved the calls, whether they were from Speaker Maynard or Cantor or McCarthy or others saying, hey... Started calling her up on the phone and saying, like, oh, you know... We're sorry, we chose the wrong horse here. But, you know, we hear you're great and, you know, we want to be supportive. How can we help? I said, come out and help me fundraise and let's win this. And they did. And I think her point was, you know, by that point, it was almost too late. She might not have won. But it was because she hadn't had that support when it really counted, which was during the primary.

But I won by 1%, okay? And so that's why I'm bringing up Joan Perry. She brings up Joan Perry as an example of why things need to change. What's the difference between a pediatrician and a politician? We're the ones fixing the problem, not the ones crying about it. I'm Dr. Joan Perry, a pro-life Christian conservative and political outsider. Joan Perry, the woman seeking the Republican nomination in today's special election in North Carolina. Right. And that's why when Walter Jones, the congressman from North Carolina,

died in February and there was this very crowded primary of Republicans vying to replace him, Republicans started to look at Perry as a possible test case for whether or not the party can actually do this, find a strong candidate who's a woman competing in an important race and actually get her over the finish line. And in what way is it a test? So it's really, for Republicans, a test of two things. One, will voters accept a Republican woman? And two, will the leaders in the party, will the sort of party infrastructure bring themselves to unite behind a woman? And the group that put on this event, the sort of umbrella group, whose political arm has spent almost $900,000 to try to elect Joan Perry in this primary. And so they're doing

what Susan Brooks was essentially talking about, which is to say, get involved when it makes a difference. And the question is, will that be enough? We're all joining arms together and trying to get women all across the Republican political spectrum because we've got to take back this majority. Thank you all. And so I decided to go down to North Carolina and meet Dr. Perry and her opponent and see for myself. We'll be right back. So, Julie, tell me about this trip.

So last week I flew to Raleigh, North Carolina, and I rented a car, drove about two hours east of Raleigh, found Joan Perry and her campaign supporters in the driveway of a little community center. And we got in the white minivan that was waiting there for her. Well, I got up this morning at 630 because I wanted to run before it got hot. Terry was going to be going door to door, talking to voters and urging them to get out in the primary. So let's talk about your race.

And on our way there, I had a chance to talk to her about why she got in the race in the first place. It was something that I had considered doing. Actually, my husband had considered doing, too. But the season of life had just not been right. She talked about seasons of life and how she has five adult sons. She has ten grandchildren. She runs triathlons.

She's a very energetic woman. But she'd been involved in her community in various ways, but never felt like the time was really right to run for Congress until... The passage of the Reproductive Health Act in New York. The New York legislature passed its new abortion law earlier this year. This is a law that basically makes it legal past 24 weeks of pregnancy if the mother's health or life are at risk or if the fetus isn't viable. This is a different season when we are really allowing permitting abortion up to the time of delivery. And I really felt strongly that as there are, you know, remarkable Democratic women voices speaking out on this,

that there needs to be a strong conservative female voice with medical expertise speaking to this issue and others. This is an issue she obviously cared deeply about and felt that this was a good reason to want to run. What was that number? 6306, I think. Let me double check. So after about 10 minutes, we arrived to this community on the outskirts of New Bern called Fairfield Harbor. I'm going to just tag along like a few paces behind you. I don't want to disrupt anything.

Okay. And Dr. Perry started knocking on doors. Very good. Nice to meet you. Yes, you're going around. That's good. Going around. Yes, ma'am. Some of the voters that we met knew her, knew her face. I'm one of the Republican runoff candidates for district. Yeah, I know. I see your ads all the time.

Yes. And hear them all the time. Yes. And hear them all the time, too. Yes. For the most part, there were pretty enthusiastic people, people who were excited to meet her. We were just talking about you. Oh, well. I'm so glad I'm here.

There was one woman who we found in her driveway. She talked about some of the issues that were really important to her. Amen and no abortion. Yeah. I'm for that. Scripture and Constitution, and then we're in good shape. Yes. Then she kind of quietly said... I sort of like that you're a woman,

that little prejudice. And Perry kind of laughed. That was clearly on her mind. There were other voters who didn't seem to know very much about her and knew more about Greg Murphy, who is Perry's opponent in this race. And some of them were also aware of the fact that Mark Meadows, who they know by reputation, he's a congressman from North Carolina. They know about the Freedom Caucus because many of them are conservative, had endorsed Murphy. I like him.

You know him personally or just from his reputation? Oh, and who supported him? Mr. Meadows? Yeah. There was one gentleman in particular who mentioned the fact that Mark Meadows had endorsed Murphy. I know he's very conservative. mark meadow had endorsed murphy i know he's very conservative

liberal left and jim came to you not quite believe it that there could be a conservative and she that you have been away happening to me because as i talk to you party strategist and people have been watching this play out over many years, there is this sense that within the Republican Party, particularly where conservatives are concerned, there's a tendency to see women as inherently less conservative than men,

even if they're Republicans, lifelong Republicans who talk in all of the same ways as male conservatives about all of the issues that voters care about. There's just a tendency to be suspicious that, you know, maybe because she's a woman, she may not be quite as hardline as I want her to be. And no question, Perry's opponent has tried to use that to his advantage. Like her endorsement of a Democrat congressman, which she still stands by today. I knew his voting record, and he was the one I was going to support. And I thought, that's a decision I stand by. Or her opposition to President Trump's emergency declaration on the border wall. I would consider voting against it.

And once again, in her own words. And that was clearly on the minds of some of these voters, that here in front of them was this woman who was talking about being pro-life and strong borders and, you know, a strong ally of President Trump. But somehow they couldn't quite believe that she was as conservative as this other guy. What's that about, do you think, Julie, that skepticism? I think part of it is that people are not used to what they haven't seen before. And the fact is that this whole problem exists because there have not been as many women in the ranks of the Republican Party as there have been in the ranks of the Democratic Party.

The other reality is that some of the most prominent women in Congress are more toward the center. You have Susan Collins in Maine, Lisa Murkowski in Alaska. These are names that people know and associate into the Republican Party, many of them are centrists as well. I think that tends to make voters a little suspicious that maybe this is just all an effort to move the party to the center and not actually an effort to add gender diversity. Right. I'm struck by an ad from Mark Meadows in this race in which he endorses Murphy over Perry, and he uses this very vivid language. You have to be invited to be a member of the Freedom Caucus, but you have to have a backbone of steel. Many members who run have a backbone of banana. When you peel it back, it gets real mushy. And I can tell you, having talked to both candidates... That struck me as a touch, perhaps, coded. Well, right. And you're not the

only one. Elise Stefanik, the congresswoman from New York, who has basically dedicated her political action arm to electing more women and recruiting more women in supporting Perry. And I spoke with her for the story. And she basically said that, you know, Meadows and the Freedom Caucus are really walking this line of veering into sexist territory here. When you pigeonhole a woman and say she can't be conservative just because she's a woman, what does that really mean? And so after Perry finished knocking on doors, we went over to this lunch counter in a gas station near the outskirts of town. And she was basically chatting up the lunchtime crowd. And it was a mostly male crowd

of voters. So I kind of went around after she talked to some of these folks to see what kind of impression she had made. But I wasn't recording at this point. I was just kind of going up to people and trying to get their thoughts. And I spoke to one man, his name was Tommy Moore. He was a retired barbecue restaurant owner, and he still seemed undecided. And I kind of asked him, you know, what was going to make the difference to him in terms of what his vote was going to be. And he said, you know, I want someone who's going to support the president. I think she would do that. But, you know, the only thing is that, as you know, he says to me, women can sometimes be a little emotional. And I really have to think about that.

And I said, what do you mean? And he said, well, you know, it's just something I have to think about. He said it again. And, you know, he clearly liked Dr. Perry and what she stood for. But it was also apparent to me that he wasn't necessarily going to be comfortable voting for her. so let's talk about what we're going to learn from the outcome of this race you said that it's a test of both voters and of the republican party itself it seems to me like one of those might end up guiding the other, which is to say if the voters show up for Joan Perry, then leadership, the Republican Party's top brass, they might be more inclined to support women once they see that. I think that's true. I think they are really viewing this as a test of whether their efforts to recruit more women are going to be successful. And some of it has to do with money and advertising and all of the traditional tools of the campaign, but some of it has to do with the electorate. electorate. And so part of this is going to be, can we send an effective message to voters that it's important to elect somebody like this to Congress? And what happens if Perry loses? Well, I think there's going to be a lot of soul searching among the leaders of the party about what they can actually do to diversify along gender lines. They have outspent the forces supporting Greg Murphy a large factor. This is a pretty smooth

running campaign. They have a candidate who really fits the ideology of the district. And part of this effort is a gamble that even if voters may not be ready to embrace a candidate like this, that with the concerted effort of party leaders with enough money, with enough preparation, that they can turn that tide. If that turns out not to be the case, that voters simply don't want to elect a person like this, then they're going to have to reevaluate and figure out what it's going to take to change the game. Every race is different, but this is certainly a place where they should be able to

mount this effort and be successful in their eyes. And if they can't, the inevitable question is going to be, well, where can they? Julie, thank you very much. Thank you, Michael. On Tuesday night, Joan Perry was defeated by state representative Greg Murphy, with Murphy capturing nearly 60% of the vote. In a statement, the group Women for Trump, which supported Murphy, said that his victory over Perry, quote, showed women voters flexing their brainpower to vote solely on policy above voting their anatomy. Moving forward, they said,

it is loud and clear that women will vote for the best candidate instead of using gender as a qualifier. We'll be right back. Here's what else you need to know today. I am calling on Secretary Acosta to resign. It is now impossible for anyone to have confidence in Secretary Acosta to resign. It is now impossible for anyone to have confidence in Secretary Acosta's ability to leave the Department of Labor. If he refuses to resign, President Trump should fire him. On Tuesday, top congressional Democrats called on the Secretary of Labor,

Alex Acosta, to resign or be fired over his handling of a 2008 federal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein when Acosta was the U.S. attorney in Miami. Instead of prosecuting a predator and serial sex trafficker of children, Acosta chose to let him off the easy. Acosta oversaw a secret non-prosecution agreement that kept Epstein from facing federal charges,

despite evidence that Epstein had paid multiple underage girls for sex. In a tweet on Tuesday, Acosta called Epstein's conduct horrific and said he was pleased to see that federal prosecutors in New York were bringing new charges against him. And... Do you want a government that comes at you from Washington or do you want a government that comes from you? Okay.

Who do the people in Washington work for? Who pays their salaries? I want to be your president. Yeah! Free Trump! Free Trump! Ross Perot, a Texas billionaire who in 1992 mounted the most successful third-party presidential candidacy in modern American history, winning 19% of the vote against Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush,

has died. Well, we're $4 trillion in debt. We're going into debt an additional $1 billion, a little more than a billion dollars every working day of the year. Now, it's not the Republicans' fault, of course, and it's not the Democrats' fault. And what I'm looking for is who did it. Somewhere out there, there's an extraterrestrial that's doing this to us, I guess. And everybody says... Perot, who made his fortune selling computers, attracted millions of voters by railing against the federal deficit,

voters attracted millions of voters by railing against the federal deficit, mocking the two-party system as dysfunctional, and decrying free trade deals like NAFTA for exporting American jobs overseas, laying the groundwork for both the Tea Party and President Trump years later. All these fellas with thousand-dollar suits and alligator shoes running up and down the halls of Congress that make policy now, the lobbyists, the PAC guys, the foreign lobbyists, what have you, they'll be over there in the Smithsonian, you know, because we're going to get rid of them. And the Congress will be listening to the people, and the American people are willing to have fair shared sacrifice. They're not as stupid as Washington thinks they are. I believe it would be... fair shared sacrifice. They're not as stupid as Washington thinks they are.

I believe it would be... That's it for The Daily. I'm Michael Barbaro. See you tomorrow.