GOP showcases record number of women, minorities running for Congress in 2020

During the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in America, Republicans are trying to make a statement with their slate of congressional candidates.

Rep. Susan Brooks (R-Ind.), recruitment chair for the National Republican Congressional Committee, and Parker Hamilton Poling, executive director of the NRCC, said the GOP has its most diverse field of congressional candidates on record in this election cycle.

The GOP needs to pick up 17 seats to regain the majority in the House. There are currently 233 Democrats, 197 Republicans and 4 vacant seats in the House. According to the NRCC, 223 Republican women are running in House races for 2020.

"I'm really proud of this," Brooks said at a Wednesday evening discussion on female 2020 Republican congressional candidates organized by American University. "We have 187 people of color who have filed. Stephanie Bice is Iranian American. Maria Salazar from Florida, I believe, is Cuban-American."

Brooks also mentioned Young Kim, who is running for the House seat in California's 39th congressional district, and Michelle Steel, who is running in California’s 48th district.

"Korean-Americans, Chinese-Americans — we are seeing an incredibly diverse field of women and men, and we're very proud of that," said Brooks. "They want to be a part of the Republican Party. They see a place for [themselves] in the Republican Party. Now we need to get them elected so that the rest of America can see that our party reflects ideals of people of all races."

Poling said the GOP has set a record for the most female, minority, and military veteran candidates running as Republicans this cycle.

"We are not just breaking the record on the number of women candidates filed," she said. "We've also broken, as far as we can tell, records on the number of minority candidates and the number of veterans who have filed. So we are really striving to have a conference that looks like the districts that we represent. So it's been really successful this cycle, and we're excited to see more folks like Mike Garcia, who just got elected in California.”

Brooks was asked if she is seeing a trend in the GOP primary races that women have won so far.

“A lot of these women have had other elected positions like lieutenant governor ... like having been a mayor, like being a state rep,” she said. “We’re building a farm team at the state and local levels, and we’re really trying to get some of those women with incredible experience to step forward and be our nominee.”