Candidates turn tables on Dem pitch to female voters as party tries to ‘pigeonhole’ women
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A new wave of Republican women entering competitive congressional races aims to chip away at Democrats’ long-held advantage with female voters and flip key seats that could determine control of the House of Representatives this November.
One of those candidates, Laurie Buckhout, a former cattle rancher, U.S. Army veteran and mother, criticized the Democratic Party for trying to “pigeon” female voters into a single category in an interview with Fox News Digital.
“Democrats are trying so hard to put us women aside in a certain role, but they still can’t define what a woman is,” she joked.
She believes that despite the rhetoric, Democrats are “really out of touch when it comes to women voters.”
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From left to right: Republican congressional candidates Laurie Buckhout, NC, Tiffany Burress, NJ, Jessica Steinmann, Texas, and Barb Regnitz, Ind. (Courtesy of campaigns by Laurie Buckhout, Tiffany Burress, Jessica Steinmann, and Barb Regnitz)
“They’re trying to appropriate this gender and put them in a box,” she continued. “‘This is how you’ll vote. Don’t tell your husband. This is how you’ll think.’ Republicans don’t do that.”
In this midterm election, Buckhout is running to unseat Democratic Rep. Don Davis in North Carolina Congressional District 1. The region stretches along the northeastern corner of the state from the Virginia border to the Atlantic coast. Buckhout’s campaign gained serious momentum this time around after narrowly losing to Davis in the 2024 election. He defeated four other Republican candidates in the March 3 primary, and just this week, he was further boosted by an endorsement from President Donald Trump.
As the dominant party in the off-year midterm, many expect Republicans to suffer a defeat at the ballot box this November. But Buckhout thinks it will be a very different story in North Carolina. Given that the GOP is barely reaching a majority in the House of Representatives, every seat counts.
“What I can tell you to the people of North Carolina, especially the people in eastern North Carolina, is that they want to live their lives with minimal government intervention; they don’t want big government sidling up to them, telling them how to live their lives, what to do, taxing more and more money out of their pockets for programs they don’t need and they didn’t vote for,” he said. “So I can tell you that we feel very good about this being a Republican election, accepting that and adding another seat to the House.”
Buckhout isn’t the only female Republican candidate with a chance to flip the red-blue district this year.
In one of the GOP’s most targeted districts, Carrie Buck, a former school principal and self-described minivan mom, is trying to unseat Rep. Dina Titus in Nevada Congressional District 1 in Las Vegas. As of the latest filings with the Federal Election Commission, Buck has significantly outperformed Titus, once again pointing out the fragility of the incumbent president.
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Left: Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev. Right: Nevada state Senator Carrie Buck, who is running for Congress. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images; Carrie Buck Campaign)
Buck told Fox News Digital that after serving in Congress since 2013, Titus “got his chance and Nevada families are still waiting for the results.”
“I spent 30 years in classrooms — teaching, running schools, and working to solve problems. At the same time, Dina Titus was in public office and was unable and unwilling to address the challenges facing Nevadans: rising inflation, rising crime rates, the open border, and failing schools,” he said.
On the East Coast, political newcomer Tiffany Burress, a New Jersey attorney, is running to unseat Democratic Rep. Nellie Pou, who is considered vulnerable.
If the GOP can take the seat, it would be a huge boon to maintaining the majority.
“Voters are ready for something different, and that’s how I know we’re going to win,” Burress told Fox News.
He toppled Pou, saying she had “lived on taxpayer money for decades” and that she, like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, “put ultra-progressive agendas ahead of our district’s priorities” with nearly 94 percent of the vote.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. and Republicans are trying to maintain their majority this midterm election season. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Similarly, in Indiana’s first congressional district, Barb Regnitz is currently trying to flip the Democratic seat long held by Rep. Frank Mrvan.
“Republicans have been powerless for almost 100 years to stop the failed policies of the far left that have led to declining incomes, strained industry, and increasingly unsafe communities here in Northwest Indiana,” Regnitz, a former software engineer and current Porter County commissioner, told Fox News Digital.
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“I’m running for Congress because I believe our district deserves serious, principled leadership that focuses on results, not rhetoric,” he said.
In Texas, another Republican woman, Jessica Steinmann, is fighting to retain the Republican seat north of Houston left vacant by Rep. Morgan Luttrell, who is not seeking re-election.
Steinmann previously served at President Donald Trump’s Justice Department during his first term as director of the Office for Victims of Crime.
He told Fox News Digital that he’s running for Congress because “the next two years of President Trump’s administration are critically important for our country.”
“I was proud to serve in the first Trump Administration, where I saw firsthand what strong America First leadership can achieve,” he said, adding, “I am confident that this message will lead us to victory in November.”
