Candice Miller could be the only woman atop a committee is she gets Homeland Security. Election causes angst for House GOP

Last week’s Republican bloodbath is causing angst in a series of House leadership elections.

The GOP’s problems with women — laid bare by last week’s elections — is the main undertone in the battle for head of the Homeland Security Committee between Reps. Mike Rogers of Alabama and Candice Miller of Michigan. That race, combined with the contest for head of the Republican Conference, is becoming a proxy for a larger discussion about a dearth of Republican women in power in the House.


(Also on POLITICO: Full coverage of the war over the future of the GOP)

To a person, key Republicans privately concede that Rogers has done everything right to become chairman. The same people also say Miller is likely to get the gavel. If so, she would be the only woman to chair a committee.

“They don’t have to pick me just because I’m a woman,” Miller said in an interview with POLITICO. “I would tell you this, if my name was Bob Miller, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.” She said she thinks she would have it locked up already.

Another complication for leaders is Rep. Paul Ryan’s return to the House. Leaders are expected to reappoint the Wisconsin Republican as head of the Budget Committee even though he’s reached the term limit for committee heads. That has others wondering why the party’s golden boy is getting special treatment.

( Also on POLITICO: 2016 hangs over Paul Ryan's return)

“I have told John Boehner that I will abide by what John wants,” Homeland Security Chairman Pete King (R-N.Y.) told POLITICO. “I was told that nobody would be getting waivers, including Paul Ryan. Obviously, if Paul is going to get a waiver, I will discuss it with the speaker.”

House leadership elections and the selection of committee heads are always unseemly affairs. They pit friends against friends and force leadership to work back channels to boost the candidates of their choice.

This year is not the worst by any means. But the tensions speak to larger questions being asked in Republican politics — like about the lack of minorities in top positions.

For example, there are no Hispanics in leadership and one African-American — Rep. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who will be the only African-American Republican in Congress after the defeat of Florida Rep. Allen West, who has yet to concede.

In the race for the head of the Republican Conference, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington state is trying to fend off Georgia Rep. Tom Price to remain the only woman in a top leadership spot. Republican leaders are confident McMorris Rodgers will win —they haven’t endorsed her, but some are quietly working to keep apprised of the race. McMorris Rodgers’s allies, both inside and outside leadership, want to see her battle it out with Price to show her internal strength.

Rep. Kristi Noem of South Dakota, meanwhile, told her colleagues in a letter Friday that she “decided she would not run” to remain on the Elected Leadership Committee.

The imperative to look inclusive comes after both groups suffered big defeats at the ballot box last week. In addition to West, Rep. Francisco Canseco was defeated in Texas and highly touted Mia Love lost in Utah.

Several women were also wiped out of the Republican Conference. Reps. Judy Biggert of Illinois, Anne Marie Buerkle and Nan Hayworth of New York, and Mary Bono Mack of Calirfornia were defeated. Reps. Sandy Adams of Florida and Jean Schmidt of Ohio lost in primaries, and Rep. Sue Myrick of North Carolina retired.

Bono Mack’s defeat leaves the largest state in the nation by population without a female Republican in its delegation.

There are a few other committee chairmanships opening up. Rep. Dan Lungren’s expected defeat in California will open up the top slot on the Administration Committee. The Ethics Committee’s chairmanship is also up for grabs, though that’s seen as more chore than plum.

The toughest battle is between Miller and Rogers for the Homeland Security post. The race will be decided by the roughly three dozen lawmakers who sit on the Republican Conference Steering Committee. The panel is effectively controlled by Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who have four and two votes, respectively, but more importantly, put their allies on the panel. Lobbying for preferred candidates is intense.

Rogers has taken the long view. In the beginning of the 112th Congress, he sat down with Boehner and Cantor to tell them he wanted the gavel when King was finished. Rogers has voted with the party more than 90 percent of the time and rarely causes leadership headaches.

He set up a joint fundraising committee —the Security for America Fund — which has raised roughly $270,000 for freshmen members of the House.

There’s also regional politics at work. If Miller is installed as the head of the Homeland Security panel, Michigan and Texas will control seven committee chairmanships.

Miller said she’s not trying to influence the steering committee by emphasizing her gender. Instead, she said, she’s highlighting her record on the committee, as well as the money she has raised for the National Republican Congressional Committee and her work as a deputy whip under Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

It’s clear, though, that she feels her gender is playing a part in lawmakers’ decisions.

“I have earned this job,” Miller said in an interview. “And I’ll say this: I’m tough enough for this job. Sometimes they think, ‘Women can do this, but I don’t know about Homeland Security,’ you know? I am tough enough, believe me, to handle this job.”

John Bresnahan contributed to this report.