Republican Women Lead the Way!

By Elizabeth Buffie Ingersoll

There is little doubt that the Harris County Republican Party under Chairman Paul Simpson is the party of strong qualified women running for office. We have one of the strongest tickets in years, with almost 50 female candidates up and down the ballot, running for US Congress, state legislature, and many important judicial positions.

Carmen Maria Montiel is a television journalist and conservative online talk show host who is running for Congress in District 29. Montiel is seeking to be the first woman, the first Hispanic and the first Republican to represent this majority Hispanic district. Businesswoman Kathaleen Wall is the choice of the conservative grassroots and the only woman running in Congressional District 2, to replace retiring Congressman Ted Poe. If elected, Montiel and Wall would stand for conservative values against Sheila Jackson Lee, who is currently the only female voice in the Houston area congressional delegation.

Running for re-election in our area state legislative delegation is Senator Joan Huffman, a former prosecutor and judge who has been a leader in the Texas Senate on issues of public safety and finance. State Representative Sarah Davis was recently named one of the most powerful women in Texas politics. State Representative

Valoree Swanson, a founding member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, is running for her second term in District 150, and longtime conservative activist Gail Stanart is running for the open seat in State Representative District 126.

For our state intermediate appellate courts, we have extraordinarily qualified candidates such as Justice Jane Bland, Justice Jennifer Caughey, and Katy Boatman running for positions on the 1st Court of Appeals, and Justice Martha Hill Jamison running for re- election on the 14th Court of Appeals. All of these appellate court candidates have been carefully vetted as constitutional conservatives who will apply the law as written and never legislate from the bench.

Among our many Republican candidates for our district courts, there is wide ranging support for Angelina D.A. Gooden, who was appointed to the 280th Family District Court by Governor Greg Abbott and is running for re-election. Former Judge Erin Lunceford is the favorite for the 189th Judicial District Court, and former Judge Alyssa Lemkuil, who was appointed by Governor Abbott, is clearly the most qualified candidate in her race for the 257th Judicial District Court. Michelle Fraga is a well-known and very qualified first time candidate running against another very qualified Republican with whom she shares many dual endorsements in the race for the 295th Judicial District Court.

These are just a few examples of the highly qualified Republican women who are leading the way in Harris County. Under Chairman Paul Simpson’s leadership the Harris County Republican Party has welcomed a diversity of candidates with wide ranging backgrounds and qualifications, while also equipping them with the tools, organization, and support needed to form a winning ticket against the Democrats this coming November.