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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. A record 142 women are projected to serve in the United States Congress next year, that's still low at a 535, but 142 will still be a record. 35 of them are expected to be Republican women, the most in party history, not only that many of these new GLP congresswomen flipped democratic seats in hard fought districts, one of them is from New York city, as many of you know Nicole Malliotakis who defeated incumbent Democrat, Max Rose.

Malliotakis has made national news since election day, saying she plans to start her own conservative version of the Squad dedicated to anti-socialism. Joining us now is Olivia Perez-Cubas. She is the former communications director for Senator Marco Rubio, and now holds the same role at the Winning for Women Action Fund. The first super PAC dedicated to electing Republican women. Ms. Perez-Cubas, thank you for joining us. Welcome to WNYC.

Olivia Perez-Cubas: Thank you for having me.

Brian: Can we start this in 2008, which was pegged as the year of the woman due to the record number of women elected to Congress that year? In that year only one was a Republican, I believe. What changed from 2018 to 2020?

Olivia: Yes. Our secret PAC was very much launched in response to the 2018 midterm elections where, as you said, only one Republican woman was newly elected to the House. We really asked ourselves at the time why this was happening. At the time a record number of Republican women had run for office, but so few were able to make it out of their primary election, and even fewer out of their general election. We asked ourselves why this was happening, and one of the biggest things that we noticed was that Republicans lacked an infrastructure to help support Republican women candidates from recruitment to their primary, through their general election.

We really lagged. I'm the last in terms of support for women, particularly in large part due to Emily's List. There was a hole in the Republican political ecosystem there. We launched the super PAC to help fill that hole, but I also think in large part due to another New York Congresswoman, Elise Stefanik, who really sounded the alarm and rallied the party behind this need to elect more women and support more women. Party leadership got behind it.

We had the support of several members, several other groups within the political infrastructure, and our group and these efforts really made all the difference because, as you said, it has been a record year for Republican women to cycle more women than ever before our newly elected to the House. More women, Republican women than ever before will be in Congress and both chambers. We're really proud of the gains that we've made, and we also think it's just the beginning.

Brian: From what I read, you didn't, nor Congresswoman Stefanik's efforts to recruit women through her political action committee didn't have the blessing or the backing of the national Republican Congressional Committee, the chairman, Minnesota Republican Tom Emmer, when asked about congresswoman's Stefanik's efforts said he thought it was a mistake. What was that about, in your opinion?

Olivia: Yes, that was-- I'm not sure. I do think the party has always focused rightfully on making sure that we are electing people based off qualifications and that they are the best fits for their district. I think the Congresswoman's point was, she agreed, but oftentimes many of those candidates are women. They happen to just lack support that they need to actually win their elections. She famously responded. I don't know if you remember, but she famously responded saying, I'm not asking for permission, I'm doing this, I'm going forward with this, and we're certainly glad that she did because it worked, and it helps make all the difference.

Brian: Does that answer suggest a different relationship to identity or identity politics, if you will, among Republican women, even though they seem to be dismissed by Republican men?

Olivia: I think the Republican party has long issued identity politics, at least in groups like ours helped make the case that this is not identity politics, that A, we are recruiting the best of the best, and oftentimes the best will be women, and we want to make sure in those instances that they have support. Also, it's about winning. One of the best ways that we can broaden our appeal to more women voters, which the party does need, is by electing more women.

Also, it's about accuracy. We want to make sure that representation in Congress reflects America and reflects reality, but also reflects the Republican party. Going back to 2018, electing one new Republican woman, that is not an accurate reflection of this country or the party. We really needed to make a concerted effort to do a better job on that front.

Brian: Listeners, we invite calls for this segment from Republican women. There is a gender gap in how people vote. What makes you both the proud Republican and a proud woman? 646-435-7280, 646-435-7280, with Olivia Perez-Cubas, former communications director for Senator Marco Rubio, and now a communications director for the Winning for Women Action Fund, the first super PAC dedicated to electing Republican women, 646-435-7280. If you yourself are a Republican woman and want to talk about the intersection of those two identities. What kinds of issues or tactics were most successful for getting out the vote in these flipped districts, and were they any different for male Republicans in similar places?

Olivia: First, I want to know that Republicans in the House flipped 11 seats to cycle, 9 of those 11 were by women. I think that that is an incredibly impressive statistic and proof that when Republicans invest in women, Republicans win. I think that that will help us build our case going forward. I think what these candidates ran on is really a case-by-case, district-by-district issue here. For example, I know Nicole, one of her big platforms was being against defunding the police, that played really well in her district. You also had a candidate like Maria Salazar down in Florida.

Cuban-American South Florida has a very big Hispanic population, particularly Cuban-American population. She ran against socialism, that played very well in her district. It just depended. I do think each of these candidates did a really good job of running on their message, owning their brand, and they all had really strong campaign teams behind them. They all showed really good fundraising CHOPs, which are really important when you're running for office. Really, their wins are a testament to the quality of candidate that these women are.

Brian: Is there a Trump factor? He's seen as so sexist in so many ways. I could go down the list. Starting with maybe when he was campaigning just before the election, talking about the recession and saying, "I want to open up the economy so your husbands can go back to work," which is inherently sexist. Never mind that it's been a more female-oriented recession because of the types of jobs from which people have been laid off. The 9 of the 11 flipped district candidates who won, who were Republican women need to run around Trump in a different way than the men.

Olivia: Also, I think it's no secret. The president- it was difficult for him to talk to suburban women voters. He'd very much struggled with that. We saw on his comments, they were very offensive to many people, particularly that one that you just read aloud, where the majority of American workers who were put out of work were actually women since the start of the pandemic. That's no secret. I do think it's, again, case-by-case basis. In certain districts, the president is a positive and he's a value add, and in other districts he's not quite as helpful.

I know like Oklahoma five where Stephanie Bice won, the president outperformed her. Again, case by case, but we also have two California wins recently by Republican women, and they over-performed the president. Really, it just depended on what district they were sitting in and the makeup of that district.

Brian: As I mentioned earlier, and again, Republican women, give us a call, 646-435-7280. What makes you a proud Republican and a proud woman? There is a gender gap in American politics. If you are in that intersection, that's a minority of women, 646-435-7280, 646-435-7280. As I mentioned earlier Nicole Malliotakis in New York's 11th district won that race against Max Rose. She said she hopes to make an "anti-socialist squad" to counter the progressive quartet of Congresswomen in the democratic party led, of course, by another New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Here's Congresswoman-elect Malliotakis being asked about her conception of a squad.

Journalist: Tell me about this freedom squad that you have an idea for.

Nicole Malliotakis: We don't have a name yet, because we're not in high school, but I got to tell you that there is a natural alliance that is occurring here, and we are bonded by the fact that we come from different experiences of socialism. My mother was a Cuban refugee who fled the Castro regime in 1959. Carlos Jimenez is Cuban born. He came to America at the age of six.

We also have Victoria Spartz who comes from the Ukraine, grew up under Soviet Union rule, and you also have Maria Elvira Salazar who is like me, the daughter of Cuban refugees. We have a natural alliance that is forming, and we are bonded by our love of America, a love for freedom and liberty and the opportunity that the American Dream represents and we want to preserve that.

Brian: Nicole Malliotakis, Congresswoman-elect from here in New York. Ms. Perez-Cubas, one thing about that clip. Malliotakis has made very clear what her squad would stand against, but what will it stand for? Are there central values that Republican women will stand for in Congress, or is it more that they want to own the libs, as they say sometimes in, I guess, Trump supporting world, or they just want to stand against certain kinds of progressive economics that they see as socialist?

Olivia: I think both are important. I think, as you're seeing the left battle internally there, and you have a few, a handful of Congress members trying to pull the party to the left, I think it's important to have voices on the right as a counterweight to those policies and making sure that they don't get traction and helping pool politics back toward the middle again. I think a lot of these women, certainly I know they ran on a handful of issues, number one, COVID, and trying to the economy back open again as quickly, but as safely as possible, which I think Americans across the country hope to see.

Certainly there's looking like a light at the end of the tunnel there. Health care, I think safety making sure that their communities are safe and running against socialism and ensuring that individual liberty and freedom that none of these things are threatened or at risk. Like I mentioned earlier, just being a voice for the right.

Brian: Then it does sound like it's more of a defensive stance than promoting certain policies solve certain problems. Am I hearing you right?

Olivia: I think it's a little bit of both. I think they're going to certainly put forth policies. I'm interested to see how under Biden administration what that looks like and the stances that they will need to pay. I also think because Republicans are able to flip so many seats, the Democrats have the majority by very little now, so I certainly hope we see some more bipartisanship and what that means. So much of the future of what politics looks like remains in the Senate, where we have yet to see who will keep the Senate, whether the Republicans will keep the majority or not. Again, I think it's a little bit of both as a defense, but also certainly being proactive and putting other policies forward.

Brian: Before we take some of the Republican women calling in, I want to take one from Karen in Benton Township, Pennsylvania, who says she's an independent, because she wants to react to what we were just talking about the two competing "squads." Karen, you're on WNYC, thank you for calling in.

Karen: Thank you. Just an observation as an independent, that this just sounds so confrontational, and this squad versus that squad, and it just feels like what we were hoping to happen after this election was that there would be some moving together. As a woman, I feel like this just flies in the face of what I would hope would be true, that women could work together, that women of different positions, different policies would be able to work together.

I think the more we talk about socialism and the more we talk about just those hot button words, are just that no healing is going to occur, or little healing is going to occur. I would say the same thing on the democratic side, I would like to see these two groups, see how they can work together and set common goals, and not have that, what I sense, because I keep looking for how this is going to happen and who will do it, this divisiveness. Thanks a lot. I appreciate the time.

Brian: I appreciate your call. To that point, Ms. Perez-Cubas, a stereotype would say women with less need to show macho dominance in general will be more solution-oriented and less about winning and dividing up into camps. To what Karen in Pennsylvania seems to want, how much do you think having more women on both sides of the aisle now will change the inter-party dynamic or political polarization? Apparently, not based on the clip of Malliotakis, maybe that's reflective of her district. What about that idea that women are less inclined in general to just try to win, and so you're going to have a greater likelihood of working together across the aisle, or is that a stereotype that you reject?

Olivia: I think both are true. I don't mean to kind of dodge, but I do think there's something to be said about women being more willing to reach across the aisle. For example, Joni Ernst, part of her campaign, was how bipartisan she is and how she is very willing to reach across the aisle when it meant it would benefit her state and her constituents. I also think we need to be weary of putting all women in a box and saying, "Oh, because they're women, they will do this or they will do that." Every woman is different.

I think every woman's district's or state's needs are different, and she will probably carry herself accordingly, as we just saw with Nicole Malliotakis's clip. I do think, what Karen's called, the majority of Americans would agree with her, that these past few years have been very divisive. I think, going forward, most Americans want to see more unity and want to see more bipartisanship. I do think with [unintelligible 00:18:14] margins in the House, that might be the only way forward, and that's certainly my hope.

Brian: Kim, in Fairfield, you're on WNYC. Hi, Kim.

Kim: Hi. How are you?

Brian: Okay. How are you?

Kim: Very well. Thanks.

Brian: Yes, you can just go, you can just start. You ran for state Senate. Was it, as a Republic?

Kim: Yes. I ran for the 26th district in Connecticut, just a few weeks ago. I lost.

Brian: What area is that?

Kim: My district would cover the full towns of Wilton, which is where I live, Richfield and Reading, and then it's most of Westport, Weston, Bethel and New Canaan.

Brian: It's a pretty blue area. What makes you a Republican?

Kim: Ironically-

Brian: Go ahead.

Kim: -only until last year, it only flipped last year to a Democrat. We were heavily Republican until then. The seat that I ran for had been held by two separate Republican women for a total of 32 years. In 2018, a young man was put forward. He was actually still in college, and he won the seat with the backing of the national party, the Democratic party. He ran again this past November and won. In fact, I was telling the screener that I believe Utah and Connecticut were the only two states to lose Republican seats in the state legislature, this past election.

Brian: What do you make of it?

Kim: I didn't lose to my opponent. I lost the Donald Trump, or the hatred of Donald Trump that is perpetuated in every media source, in my area, anyway. I found that even local media would alter things that we would submit, would-- Basically, it was promoting my opponent and the other Democratic candidates over us. In a state where we have huge financial problems, I'm actually a CPA and a parent. With COVID and education and the financial conditions, I felt that I was the best candidate for sure, but unfortunately they used national issues very well against everyone that was running instead of using state issues.

Brian: What's the core of your own republicanism, and how much do you think the national party should move away from whatever values we might call Trumpism in order to help candidates like you?

Kim: I think it's unfortunate that's been what the Republican party is now known for. I'm 51, I've always been a Republican. I think most people that are in the tax or accounting world are typically fiscally conservative. We know that giving government our tax money, because certainly it's almost guaranteed that will not be spent appropriately. My argument would be almost that Trump was a Democrat longer than he's Republican, and I don't agree with a lot of his personal choices.

I have avoided really thinking about national politics because I'm running for state, so I have really focused on what's going on here in my state rather than what's going on nationally. I use a dumpster fire term. There's nothing happening in Washington, it seems so.

Brian: Kim, I get you. I'm going to move on just to get to some other callers. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Call us again. This is WNYC FMHDNA in New York, WNJT-FM 88.1, Trenton WNJP 88.5, Sussex WNJY 89.3 Netcong, and WNJO 90.3 Toms River. We are New York and New Jersey public radio. As we have a few minutes left with our guest, Olivia Perez-Cubas, former communications director for Senator Marco Rubio, and now communications director at the Winning for Women Action Fund, the first super PAC dedicated to electing Republican women.

We're talking to her largely because Republican women did really well in the congressional midterm elections of the 11 seats that Republicans took from Democrats. They did flip that many seats, nine of them were taken by women and just the opposite of in 2018, we're only one new woman from the GLP was elected to Congress. Carolyn Norwood in New Jersey, you're on WNYC. Hi Carol.

Carolyn Norwood: Hi, thanks for taking my call. I just wanted to add my voice to the Republican women. I've been a Republican since the 1980s, at the time I was living in St. Louis, Missouri, and I got involved in campaigning for a young man who was actually [unintelligible 00:23:50]. We didn't win, but we took about 30% of the vote, and that was exciting to be part of that campaign.

Back then, they just explained the platform, to me was about pro economy, pro small business, lower taxes, less government were unnecessary. I followed that through my life. We're located at [unintelligible 00:24:12], lived in Western Pennsylvania, lived in- came back to Jersey to Burton County where I grew up. Now I'm in a blue state. I feel like a minority sometimes, attacked by my coworkers or family.

Brian: What's the hard of your republicanism? What are the main couple of issues or values that define your republicanism, and whether there's a female component to that since that's what the PAC is about?

Carolyn: The female component. I'm not sure. I don't really go along with identity politics necessarily. I have never been a mother, but I'm strongly pro-life. I do feel like women need to control their own bodies. I do believe in the father's rights also, I don't think that's talked about enough. I know the men who have actually father children and the women have chosen to get rid of that pregnancy. I really believe in men's and women's rights, human rights.

I'm concerned about being forced to do something against your will, which is maybe take a take if it's against your spiritual beliefs. I'm also very concerned about healthcare. I work in the business, but I've seen people lose their house because of Obamacare, because it was so unaffordable that they couldn't afford the copays, and deductibles were so high. I found the ACA was not affordable healthcare [unintelligible 00:25:53]

Brian: I just wanted to follow up on the one point that you made that I know we'll get a lot of tweets and stuff about that, you would give a man some legal right over a woman's body, if she's pregnant and doesn't want to carry it to term?

Carolyn: If he fathered a child, I don't think that child should be destroyed just unilaterally by her choice. If she chooses to bear that baby, that he's financially responsible for child, if it lives. Why should she solely be responsible for that decision of life or death?

Then moving on to the key party, I was really attracted to that movement, and contrary to some of the things that you've said on the radio, it's not about race. It was about fiscal responsibility, and it was a rejection of actually George W. Bush's policies. It was born at the end of his administration. I had gone to a few local meetings in the Bergen County area, and I was really excited. I thought it was going to be a bipartisan move, but it got taken over by a certain way of the Republican party, and that was okay. That's where I'm at.

Brian: Carol. Thank you so much. We really appreciate you chiming in, so Olivia Perez-Cubas, we're almost out of time. You've heard some of the callers, probably relate to some of the callers. I'm curious if you think that there is some unity with Democrats on gender-related issues. Sexual assault in the military, and who gets to have authority over that big issue for Senator Gillibrand from New York. I guess the parties are going to divide on abortion rights pretty much. How about equal pay legislation? Like the Lily Ledbetter Act and family leave legislation that Democrats want to be more aggressive on, on requirements for employers than Republican proposals.

Any of that you think unifies the Republican women who've been elected and the Democratic women?

Olivia: I think, for one, you saw Senator Joni Ernst who has been a leader on a sexual assault and the military front along with Senator Martha McSally who unfortunately just lost her seat in Arizona, but both of whom were victims and survivors of sexual assault. They are two very good examples of why it's so important to have a public and women's voices in the conversation, because you want to make sure that seated at the table is everyone, that women across this country from right to left are represented and their interests are reflected in our laws.

One of the best ways that we can do that is by ensuring that we elect more Republican women. Again, we've come a long way since 2018. It's been a historic year for Republican women, more Republican women than ever before. We'll be in Congress next year. We strongly believe that this is just the beginning, and that these women are a testament to the quality of candidates that they were, the quality of the races that they ran, and we look forward to just continuing to grow our ranks.

Brian: Briefly, how many of the nine Republican women who won those races and flipped democratic districts are pro-choice, if there's a simple numerical answer to that?

Olivia: I couldn't tell you off the top of my head, but I also do want to make one more point. So, on top of the fact that so many Republican women were elected this cycle, I do think it's also important to note, so many of these women are incredibly diverse. You have two Korean American women in California who will be among the first Korean Americans ever elected to Congress. You have, as Nicole, we talked about her earlier, she's Cuban American, Maria Salazar, Cuban American. Stephanie Bice down in Oklahoma is Iranian American, the first to serve in Congress. I really do think it's just a testament to how big the Republican Party really is, its appeal, and the fact that in order to continue being successful, we really have to work to grow that can broaden our appeal. One of the best ways we can do that is by electing more women.

Brian: Last thing then, what about racial justice? Because when you look at certainly the breakouts in the presidential race, he got close to zero African-American women and a majority of white women. Someone's tweeting, for example, your guest says, Republican women issue identity politics, but what about the identity politics of whiteness?

Olivia: Again, this goes to my broader point, that the more diverse voices we have at the table, across the board, across the political spectrum, the better for the country. My small role in that is helping to elect more Republican women, which was badly needed after the 2018 midterm elections, as we've talked about. Just going forward that the Republican Party, both parties just need to make sure that they are speaking to as many people as possible, and that Republicans are bringing more people into the fold. Again, one of the best ways we are winning for women think that we can do that is by electing more women.

Brian: Olivia Perez-Cubas, communications director for the Winning for Women Action Fund, the first super PAC dedicated to electing Republican women on the heels of Republican women's success in the midterm elections for Congress. Thanks so much for joining us. We really appreciate it.

Olivia: Thanks for having me.

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