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PONTE VEDRA, Fla. – House Republican Caucus Chair Elise Stefanik said becoming a mother has made her “a more effective leader” and told Fox News she and other mothers in Congress are “moms on a mission” to strengthen the country for the next generation.
Stefanik, who welcomed her first child – a baby boy – in August, did a sit-down interview with Fox News on the sidelines of the House Republican Issues Conference Thursday.
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“I think becoming a mom has made me a more effective leader and a more effective congresswoman because I think about the country that we’re leaving for the next generation,” Stefanik told Fox News.
House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik with her husband and baby at the House Republican Issues Conference in Ponte Vedra, Fla.
Stefanik became the chair of the House Republican Caucus last year and made history in 2014 when she became the youngest woman ever elected to the House at the time at the age of 30. In 2018, New York City Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez surpassed Stefanik as the youngest female elected at the age of 29.
“There are so many newly-elected Republican women in Congress who are moms, and they are moms on a mission,” Stefanik said. “I mean, there is no greater advocate for the next generation than moms and dads – particularly moms who, when they find out about, you know, the masking mandates in school, some of what’s being taught in our school curriculums, moms are stepping up to make their voices heard.”
Stefanik said “more Republican women have filed to run for Congress than ever before in our nation’s history” for the 2022 cycle.
“More than 280 — that beats last cycle’s record where we elected the highest number of Republican women ever, which was an initiative I was proud to lead,” Stefanik told Fox News.
Stefanik said the 2022 GOP female candidates are a “great crop,” telling Fox News she has endorsed “18 rising star, top-tier women Republican candidates across the country.”
Stefanik in November rolled out her first round of “EPAC” endorsements to elect more Republican women to Congress in 2022. At the time, she told Fox News that the group was “the most impressive and diverse group of rising stars we’ve ever seen” and predicted that GOP women would be “majority makers.”
Included in her endorsements are Karoline Leavitt for the 1st Congressional District in New Hampshire. Leavitt previously served as Stefanik’s spokeswoman and as an assistant press secretary to former President Trump.
Stefanik also endorsed Esther Joy King for Illinois’ 17th Congressional District, a veteran who served in Afghanistan as an aid worker and a member of the Judge Advocate General Corps in the U.S. Army Reserve. She is now a lawyer focusing on economic development and real estate.
House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., attends a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center after a meeting of the conference Oct. 26, 2021.
(Tom Williams )
Stefanik endorsed Amanda Adkins for Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District. Adkins has worked as an executive at a global Kansas City-based health care and information technology company after previously serving as the chairwoman of the Kansas Republican Party.
Stefanik also offered her endorsement to April Becker, a small business owner and lawyer for Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District; Lisa Scheller, a small business owner, for Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District; Monica De La Cruz, a small business owner, for Texas’ 15th Congressional District; and Jeanine Lawson, vice chair of the Virginia Railway Express Operations Board and chair of the Innovation Owner’s Association Board of Directors, for Virginia’s 10th Congressional District.
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Stefanik also endorsed Jen Kiggans, a Virginia state senator, nurse practitioner and a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot for Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District.
During the interview Thursday, Stefanik said each candidate is “very focused on their district.”
Stefanik pointed to Kiggans as an example, calling her an “exceptional candidate to run against Rep. Elaine Luria, who has voted nearly lock, stock and barrel with Nancy Pelosi.”
“We think a candidate like Kiggans is going to continue to shine on the campaign trail and that her constituents, or future constituents, will vote against Elaine Luria but also vote for the strong leadership that Jen Kiggans will provide,” Stefani said. “There are candidates like that across the country. She’s just one example of one of my first endorsed candidates.
“We believe these women candidates will lead the way in firing Nancy Pelosi once and for all.”
