AUSTIN — The number of women running for Congress here this year is surging, fueled by indignation over the wave of sexual harassment claims against office-holders, anti-Trump sentiment and an abundance of seats left open by the retirements of longtime incumbents.

At least 50 female challengers have filed to run in Texas congressional races in the March 6 primary, raising the prospect that Texas — a state with 36 districts but just three women in its House delegation — will finally see its breakthrough moment for women in 2018.


“We have reached a tipping point,” said Veronica Escobar, an El Paso Democrat who could become the first Latina from Texas in Congress. “I’m hoping that 2018 is the year that stars are aligned for other women.”

Many of these candidates are destined to fall short: There are twice as many Democrats running as Republicans — 36 to 14 — in a conservative state where more than two-thirds of the current seats are currently held by Republicans. And many are locked in primary battles with other female contenders, meaning that come March, the field of female candidates will be considerably winnowed down.

Still, the groundswell of candidates — and eight open House seats across the state — makes it likely at least a few of them will be added to what is the second-largest congressional delegation in the nation. That’s no small feat in a state that hasn’t added a new woman to its full-time roster since the election of Republican Rep. Kay Granger in 1996.

“We’re at a crossroads in American history,” said Democrat Mary Jennings Hegar, an Air Force combat veteran, who earned a Purple Heart when her helicopter was shot down during a rescue mission in Afghanistan. Hegar is trying to unseat GOP Rep. John Carter in a reliably Republican district that includes part of Fort Hood. “I wanted to know that I did something."

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The explosion of candidates is taking place against the backdrop of record-setting numbers of women running for Congress nationwide — two times as many women are running this year as in 2016, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers.

Even if only a few women are elected in Texas this fall, it could make a big difference down the line. Because the state has such a large and influential delegation, having more women elected from the state could eventually put more women in line for chairmanships, says James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project. He points to Granger, who chairs the Defense Appropriations subcommittee and could be the next chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee.

“It’s not an earthquake, but it matters,” said Henson. “More women in the delegation would mean more women having an impact.”

Interviews with a dozen Texas candidates revealed that their experiences on the campaign trail cut across party lines. They speak of the difficulties that female candidates face in fundraising and the challenges of balancing family and campaign life. Mostly though, they talk about how opportunity, anger and frustration with the status quo compelled them to throw their hats into the ring.

“It’s not easy on men or women, but it’s harder on women to raise money and keep all the balls in the air,” said Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Dallas Democrat first elected to Congress in 1992, about running for office.

Escobar, who served two terms as county judge of El Paso County, but wasn’t interested in pursuing federal office while her kids were young because of the constant travel to Washington. Now, with her youngest daughter in college, a local congressional seat open and her shock at President Trump’s victory, she feels ready to pursue national office.

“The timing was right for me and my family,” said Escobar, a front-runner in the race to succeed Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who declined to seek re-election due to his Senate run.

Like Escobar, many candidates said that the difficulty balancing family with the travel demands placed on a member of Congress — made even greater by Texas’s vast, contorted congressional districts — have kept them from running.

Plus, they point out that women have a harder time when it comes to tapping into traditional fundraising networks, which puts them at a disadvantage as the cost of mounting campaigns rises.

But, they say, the sexual misconduct allegations surrounding the president and other national political figures are provoking feminist political activism around the country, and even among women who don’t call themselves feminists. The first sign was the women’s march after Trump’s 2017 inauguration. In Texas, two House members announced that they wouldn’t seek re-election because of sexual misconduct-related scandals: Reps. Joe Barton and Blake Farenthold.

“My daughters need to know that the system works,” said Republican candidate Deborah Gagliardi, running in an 11-way primary to replace Barton. Gagliardi owns an architectural and engineering firm in Arlington and served as a precinct chair for twenty years. She was finally driven to campaign by anger at the Republican Party’s long-standing support for Barton, who has served in Congress since 1985, and for President Trump.

That frustration crested at the perfect moment. The youngest of Gagliardi’s four daughters graduated from college just as Barton’s retirement created an opening for her to channel her anger into a candidacy.

“If you cannot trust someone with your wife or daughter, you can cannot trust them with your money or freedom,” said Gagliardi.

While Republicans gained ground in Congress during President Obama’s presidency, those gains didn’t translate into additional women in Congress, said CAWP’s Kelly Dittmar. Today 22 Republican women serve in the House, compared with 24 in 2011.

Some Republican candidates blame the dearth of females in the state’s delegation on a lack of party support.

Women running on the left have groups like EMILY’s List, a thirty-year-old organization that connects Democratic female candidates who support abortion right to its donor base and offers them campaign support. The group has endorsed five candidates in Texas — including three in Republican-held districts where Hillary Clinton received more votes than Trump.

Those on the right, meanwhile, have groups like VIEW PAC, Maggie’s List and the Susan B. Anthony List, which have less clout than their liberal counterparts and together have endorsed about a half-dozen candidates.

“The party doesn’t recognize women,” said Jenifer Sarver, a Republican running to replace retiring Congressman Lamar Smith in a district that stretches from Austin to San Antonio. Even though Sarver has the endorsement of VIEW PAC, she feels like the party establishment has done little to support her campaign, and that its tone alienates women.

When Sarver, who is single, said as much during a candidate forum, a primary competitor responded that only “married women” vote Republican.

“It’s important for women to feel like the party fully respects them,” said Sarver, who worked on former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s staff and in the George W. Bush administration.

