Why Republican Women Fail to Garner Support: Sexism, Ambivalence, and Party

• In Event: Gender, Race, and Sexuality in Elections

Abstract

Women's organizations play a vital role in recruiting, training, and funding women candidates for political positions. Despite the increased presence of Republican women's groups, these groups do not provide exclusive support to women candidates and instead support a large number of male candidates. It may seem that these organizations do not truly support women candidates and have sexist values. However, I argue that these support patterns reflect partisan culture, resulting in the use of a gender-neutral approach to candidate support. To investigate this, I conduct a survey of state women's organizations and interviews with national women's organizations. I find that both Democratic and Republican women's groups have the same desire to support women candidates and have women hold political power. However, Republican women's groups also have a strong desire to reflect partisan values and avoid conflict with the party. These results have normative implications for mobilizing Republican women into elected positions and suggest the importance of considering partisan culture when studying candidate mobilization.

Author

• Shannon McQueen, West Chester University of Pennsylvania