The shortage of Republican women in Congress could doom the party | Geoffrey Kabaservice

The widening chasm between the number of Democratic and Republican women in Congress may threaten Republican prospects in the midterm elections

Much of the chatter among US political poll-watchers this summer was about the “gender gap,” the margin by which American women vote for Democrats over Republicans. The furious reaction by women to the recent US senate hearings over sexual misconduct by US supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh seems likely to extend that gap to record margins. But the bigger long-term problem for the Republican party may be the widening chasm between the number of Democratic and Republican women in Congress.

Congress has long been a lopsidedly male place. There have only been 52 women senators in the entire history of the United States, and it took until 2011 for women legislators to get a restroom near the floor of the House of Representatives. Congress is still about 80% male, so gender parity is a long way off. But that figure blurs the imbalance between a Democratic caucus where one-third of the members are women and Republican caucus where women are only around one-tenth of the membership. 

Continue reading...