Happy new year, Rulers! In our first edition back after the holidays, I sat down with two first-term representatives for a look, from both sides of the aisle, at the legislative session ahead. Let’s get into it: The 119th Congress began on Jan. 3, bringing 16 first-term Democratic women and two first-term Republican women to the House floor. A total of 125 women — 28 percent of all members — will serve in the House in the 119th Congress, down three from the 128 women serving in the 118th Congress. Of the 215 Democrats in the House, 94 are women and 31 of the 220 Republicans in the House are women. One of the two first-term Republicans is Rep. Julie Fedorchak (R-N.D.), 56, her state’s sole representative and the first-ever woman elected to the position. Fedorchak, who was endorsed by President-elect Donald Trump, is also the first first-term representative to serve on the Energy and Commerce Committee in 14 years, having spent the last 12 years as a utility regulator on North Dakota’s Public Service Commission. One of the 16 first-term Democratic women is Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-Md.), 36, the youngest woman ever elected to the Maryland state Senate at age 28. She beat out Republican Rob Steinberger for Maryland’s third Congressional district seat. In this era of highly partisan — and often hostile — politics, both of these newly-minted lawmakers say they are eager to reach across the aisle. “I think that there will be issues that we can work together on,” Fedorchak says, “and I plan to be a person that tries to do that with my Democrat colleagues wherever I can.” Adds Elfreth, “I'm gonna do my darndest to figure out if there are a few things we can agree on.” This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Since women make up just 28 percent of all House members in this Congress, what do you think are the barriers for women running for office? FEDORCHAK: I don't think there's any exceptionally different barriers today than there ever has been. Politics is a different industry; not all women maybe want to get into it. And I think that if there's one thing that we struggle with more than men, perhaps, it's that we maybe don't ever think we're in the right position to do it. … It's the impostor syndrome, right? ELFRETH: One barrier is always the ability to fundraise and have the resources needed. To win, it requires putting a lot of your life on hold, and giving it all of your attention and your time and your energy and your weeknights and your weekends. I think it's particularly hard on people with young families, both men and women. I've personally been held to a bit of a higher standard than some of the men I have run against over my campaigns — to be nice, to do better, to handle myself in a way that I haven't always seen my male counterparts held to the same standard. How did you overcome those barriers? ELFRETH: I had the ability because I didn't have a family and I don't yet have a family — to put my all into it. And again, I haven't gone to brunch with my friends on a Sunday in a decade. I've been crisscrossing the district, [going to] church, community events. My secret sauce has always been just out hustle everybody else. My secret to everything, and what I share with people thinking about running is: you might not have the resume other people you're running against may have, you might not have the money, but I've always been determined to be the hardest working person in a campaign. FEDORCHAK: I have a really hard work ethic, and got involved and was passionate about these things in my twenties. I had really great mentors, most of whom were men, who encouraged and promoted me. Then I just worked really hard and was at the right place at the right time. My husband has been super supportive. My kids were super supportive, and I had the skills and perspectives in the energy sector that I think really matter right now in our country. I wasn't elected in North Dakota because I was a woman. I was elected because I think the citizens of my state saw in me who they wanted to represent them in Congress. Do you see hope for bipartisanship in this Congress? FEDORCHAK: I do. I think that there will be issues that we can work together on, and I plan to be a person that tries to do that with my Democrat colleagues wherever I can. We don't have to agree, but we don't have to be disagreeable, and we can be friends and find ways to find some common ground to work together. It won't be on every bill, and we won't agree on every issue, but it doesn't mean that we have to be disagreeable. I'm looking for those pragmatic folks on the other side of the aisle to work with. ELFRETH: We have this standard in our country where we expect to agree with people 100 percent of the time, and that's just, frankly, irrational in politics. I came from a statehouse where bipartisanship was the norm, and that’s how I was brought up in politics. I started to do it during freshman orientation, finding and having meaningful conversations with my Republican colleagues. Not just, “Hi, how are you?” But, “Tell me about your district; tell me about your background. What's your first bill gonna be? Let's try to find a bill we can co-sponsor together.” Apparently, the women in the Senate used to have a monthly dinner, bipartisan, and I've already spoken with the freshmen women on the Democratic side to start that up and invite the two freshman Republican women as well, to see if we can have some personal time and get to know each other on an individual basis. FEDORCHAK: I love it. I was very pleased to have been invited, and Sarah’s great. … She's another one that I know I can work across the aisle with. Why do you think Democrats have more women in Congress than Republicans? ELFRETH: I was thinking about that yesterday on the floor — look at the difference between our sides of the aisle. I'm happy with the progress we've made, I'm a little saddened to see that we've gone down for the first time, I think in 30 years. … Why Democrats seem to elect more women than the Republicans, I don't know. FEDORCHAK: I haven't experienced any sort of discouragement myself — and quite the opposite. I think I've been extremely supported and encouraged by the folks at my state and the federal and the national Republican leaders as well. So, I think it's just a matter of not as many Republican women were in position to run and get engaged this summer. How do you see governing — and the ability, or willingness, to reach across the aisle — under the incoming presidential administration? FEDORCHAK: On issues like addressing the border, like energy policy, like inflation — I think we'll see great bipartisanship. We have enough votes — barely, but we do have enough votes — to get a lot done ourselves with a unified government. And I am very confident that we will, and I hope that there's bipartisanship along the way as well. ELFRETH: A lot of it's going to be waiting and seeing what the president defines as his policy priorities, budget priorities and responding when it's going to have a negative impact or a positive impact on my district, my state, my community. I am trying to always look at it through the lens of my job first and my party second. I'm gonna do my darndest to figure out if there are a few things we can agree on. And when we can't, and when it's going to have negative consequences for the people I represent, I'm going to stand up and say so.
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