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Will These Young Faces Help Take Back the House for the GOP?

Posted on Tuesday, August 3, 2021
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AMAC Exclusive by: Shane Harris

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It’s no secret that the 2020 was a rousing success story for House Republicans, shrinking the Democrat majority to within 10 seats. But how – and with whom – the GOP won is perhaps just as important as the outcome itself.

Republicans’ success last year was thanks in large part to a young, diverse slate of candidates who appealed to the youngest generations of American voters. Most notably, a record number of Republican women won, including burgeoning stars like Young Kim, a Korean-American who defeated a Democrat to secure her seat in California.

That surge of young talent has many Republicans hopeful that they can reverse a concerning trend of young voters increasingly voting for the Democratic Party In recent elections.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump by a margin of 58% to 28% among voters aged 18-29 according to data from Pew Research Center. Trump did only marginally better among 30-49 year-olds, losing to Clinton 51% to 40%.

In 2020, the results were even worse for the Republican ticket. According to exit polls conducted by NBC, Joe Biden captured a full 65% of voters aged 18-24, compared with only 31% who voted for President Trump. In fact, the NBC poll showed Trump did not win a single group of voters below age 50. Trump won voters aged 50-64 and 65 and over both by a margin of 52%-47%.

Undoubtedly, 2016 and 2020 were unique elections in American history. And voters typically become more conservative as they grow older (leaving the sheltered life of a liberal college campus and entering the real world of taxes, mortgage payments, and public safety concerns usually does the trick). But Republican leaders have nonetheless emphasized the importance of making inroads with young voters now, lest the party struggle to remain viable with an aging voter base. A key component of this outreach is empowering more young conservative candidates.

In this respect, the 2022 cycle is shaping up to be another banner year for Republicans. As the party goes all-out to regain control of the House and Senate, the field is chock-full of promising young candidates. Here are just a few to keep an eye on that reflect the emerging trend of energetic, young conservative leaders across the country.

Karoline Leavitt

Karoline Leavitt is running for New Hampshire’s First Congressional District, a post currently held by Democrat Chris Pappas. If Leavitt wins next November, she will have just celebrated her 25th birthday and will become the youngest person ever elected to Congress, a title currently held by Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn. She would also be the first female Republican to represent New Hampshire in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Leavitt first broke onto the scene this past May after her Twitter account was suspended while she was working as the Communications Director for Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, now the 3rd-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives. In a tweet, Stefanik called the move “an unconstitutional overreach.”

Prior to her time as a Congressional staffer, Leavitt worked as an Assistant Press Secretary for President Trump at the White House. According to the bio on her website, Leavitt attended St. Anslem College in Manchester, New Hampshire, and she says she is running because she “could no longer sit back and watch as our conservative principles – that make America the greatest country in the world and New Hampshire the best state in the union – fall under attack.” In her campaign announcement video, Leavitt promises to be a “conservative firewall” between New Hampshire and Washington Democrats.

Regarding her age, Leavitt says she views it as an asset rather than a weakness. “My age is not the problem,” she told the New York Post. “The problem is the fact that we have people in Washington, D.C., who have been serving twice as long, maybe three times as long, as I have been alive. If we want real change in our system, we should elect young leaders to reinvigorate our base.”

Leavitt faces a crowded primary field and a tough Democrat opponent in Pappas, but appears to be surging in the early stages of her candidacy. Her campaign announcement was met with favorable coverage from several media outlets, as well as national attention from shows like Fox & Friends.

New Hampshire’s First Congressional District last went for a Republican in 2014, and Pappas barely held onto the seat with 51% of the vote in 2020. New Hampshire’s State Legislature, which is controlled by Republicans, is expected to draw new district lines that will favor the GOP in the First District, which would give the Republican candidate who emerges from next September’s primary contest a distinct advantage heading into the general election in November.

Jake Evans

After five years as chair of the Georgia state ethics commission, Georgia attorney Jake Evans recently announced that he would be running to challenge incumbent Democrat Lucy McBath for her seat representing Georgia’s 6th congressional district.

The thirty-something Evans describes himself as a “bold, conservative trailblazer” who joined the race because “the radical left is seeking to erase our culture, our values and our American identity.” Evans received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Georgia, and, according to a statement released by his campaign, “fought for the counting of only legal votes during President Trump’s re-election in Pennsylvania all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.” Throughout his legal career, Evans has made a name for himself investigating and exposing potential voter fraud, something that is likely to appeal to Republican voters amid continued concerns about the integrity of last year’s presidential elections in Georgia.

Georgia’s 6th congressional district has a rich history of producing conservative leaders, having been held by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Former U.S. Senator from Georgia Johnny Isakson also got his start there, as well as Tom Price, who vacated the seat in 2017 to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Donald Trump. Evans is no doubt keenly aware of this storied history, having himself knocked doors for Gingrich’s campaigns.

Evans has compared the 2022 race to the 1994 Congressional contest that saw Republicans – led by none other than Gingrich – retake the House of Representatives for the first time since 1952. “We fully expect to mount a revolution,” he said in a recent interview. “And it starts right here in Georgia in the 6th District.”

If Evans, son of former U.S. Ambassador Randy Evans, does manage to win the seat, it would indeed represent a revolution of sorts. The district has trended more Democratic in recent years after McBath flipped the seat in 2018.

While Georgia’s state legislature is controlled by Republicans, just what exactly the district will look like next year is still largely unknown. The legislature could redraw lines to include more suburban and rural areas, which would likely favor Republicans, but may also abandon the district to Democrats in order to shore up Republican majorities in surrounding districts.

As it currently stands, the district encompasses much of the northern arc of metro Atlanta and several surrounding suburbs on the north side of the city. Regardless of where the new boundaries are drawn, expect public safety, along with election integrity, to be a major issue heading into next year’s race, as Atlanta has seen an unprecedented surge in violent crime like other liberal cities.

Tina Ramirez

In what is expected to be one of the most hotly contested Congressional races next year, Tina Ramirez, a former teacher and founder of Hardwired Global, a group dedicated to fighting religious intolerance around the world, recently announced her candidacy for Virginia’s 7th Congressional seat next November.

This is Ramirez’ second run for the seat. She ultimately came up short in the Republican nominating contest in 2020 to Nick Freitas, who then lost to Democrat Abigail Spanberger in the general election. Spanberger first won the seat in 2018, ousting Republican incumbent Dave Brat.

In a recent interview with Virginia Scope, Ramirez said that she is a “pro-life, single mother” who “run[s] a global nonprofit organization that does human rights work around the world.” She also criticized Spanberger’s record in Congress, saying that “Abigail Spanberger is voting lockstep with Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden for policies that are creating burdensome regulations for small businesses who are already hurting from COVID, politicizing and downgrading our education system, and making our elections less secure.”

Ramirez has also been on the front lines in the battle against Critical Race Theory (CRT), writing for Fox News that CRT “essentially establishes a new metric for human value, one rooted in Marxism,” going on to say that “not one cent of taxpayer dollars should go to teaching kids to hate others.” Ramirez specifically called attention to a series of school board meetings in Loudon County earlier this year that became a flashpoint in the ongoing debate over the implementation of CRT and related ideologies in public schools.

Along with flipping from Republican to Democrat in 2018, Virginia’s 7th district narrowly went for Joe Biden in 2020 after Donald Trump won there in 2016. Spanberger barely escaped defeat in 2020, winning by a margin of just over 8,000 votes out of more than 450,000 votes cast. If Republicans are to take back the House in 2022, their chances of success will rest in large part on defeating vulnerable incumbents like Spanberger.

It is undoubtedly true that young candidates face uphill battles running against more experienced opponents. But just as radical progressives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the “Squad” once defied the odds and won tough races, this young, promising group of conservatives could lead the same sort of revolution for Republicans, ushering in a new era of conservatism just when the country needs it most.

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WARREN MOOSE
WARREN MOOSE
3 years ago

The Trump haters still will never vote for Trump! however Biden/Harris are doing such a terrible job that voters will vote them out regardless of who runs!!

RJ from Arizona
RJ from Arizona
3 years ago

We do not need a new generation of career politicians. People who believe in the Constitution need to be elected next year. This country desperately needs term limits.

Garye
Garye
3 years ago

We sure hope so, pelosi and the democrat establishment is destroying America!
They MUST GO!

Sonja Moreau
Sonja Moreau
3 years ago

I’m personally rooting for Karoline Leavitt. It’s an objective to oust Pappas in NH. There’s no room for a socialist agenda in NH. It’s time the residents know since the media doesn’t!

Becky
Becky
3 years ago

Who in the world made up THOSE stats???
I don’t know one single person who voted for Biden!

Deborah
Deborah
3 years ago

Pray that all mentioned win

aluminum head
aluminum head
3 years ago

The “House” will only be taken back if we have ARMED, CONSERVATIVE, polling place judges.
A lot of vote “counters” are communist ( D ) insurgents of ALL colors.

Stephen Russell
Stephen Russell
3 years ago

Need New blood & GOP should rebrand & re market self for future

Mimi
Mimi
3 years ago

I hope we get a lot of conservative young people in government. Out with the old and in with the new. The old guard on both sides are more concerned with lining their own pockets, than they are with taking care of the peoples business. And term limits would go a long way in cleaning up the place!! God bless America.

WindRunner80HD
WindRunner80HD
3 years ago

Great to hear a new younger generation is stepping forward good luck to you all and thank you for your efforts fighting to save this great country America…Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave! God bless ????????????????

Jeanne
Jeanne
3 years ago

Good for these young people. Hopefully more will realize and follow them. God bless them all!

D.P.
D.P.
3 years ago

My only hope is that these incoming young people will not fall to the swamps dirty water, dirty tricks, and dirty heritage. If you swim in the slime, you will most likely become slimy. They will have to work hard and in concert with one another and like minded others to form a unit that has integrity and a conscience…..this will be quite hard. Their battle will be dangerous and hard as they come up against the likes of Pelosi, Schumer, and even many long term republicans who are part of the fixture of Washington and our state legislatures. I have seen good people go into the arena and in a few short years be no better than the long term cronies when it comes to political power brokering, lobby influence and the desire to get re-elected above and beyond all other considerations…not to mention the money that often plays a part in the process. I pray daily that the righteousness of God be in our national leaders……

Judy
Judy
3 years ago

Once again, if the spineless sheep in this country don’t take a strong stand against the next created crisis in this country, which is the COVID VARIANT being spread by those across the country who have been vaccinated, not one single thing is going to matter regarding our elections and freedoms. The demons will use this crisis just like the last one, and in Democrat states it’s already starting.
We must resist them and not comply, and this means millions of Americans need to join together to accomplish this. That Health and exercise business in New York is our model for ignoring their unconstitutional mandates. That guy tore up every notice and warning from OSHA and refused to pay the fines OSHA imposed on him and cut their locks off his entrances to his business. He remained defiant and won the battle against Shmomo and Deblah blah!
Americans must do the same in order to send the message that ‘WE WILL NOT SURRENDER TO A DICTATORSHIP!!’
If we fail to do this then we lose everything. God help us all!

Jorge L Rios
Jorge L Rios
3 years ago

It doesn’t matter who we send to Washington, if the system does not get fixed (just like a computer sometimes needs a reset, the Federal Government is way overdue for a reset) nothing will change.
We must get back to our founding principles and the government back to working the way it was originaly meant to be. Using a new horse to pull a broken wagon will not make the wagon move any better. That is just the facts of life. We can do a reset by using article 5 in the constitution and calling for a convention of states.

MJC
MJC
3 years ago

Democrats corrupted our voting system. They will always take majority unless someone stops them. Our votes won’t matter anymore.

Darwin Benedict
Darwin Benedict
3 years ago

Being in the older generation, I would like nothing better than to see the younger generation to take this country back and carry on with what was set up by our Fore Fathers when this country was founded. And, like one individual stated in the answers, reset the government to what this country was founded upon. So many people in congress only became a Congressman/Congresswoman to gain power and amass more of a fortune. It is the only reason a lot of the older individuals in congress continue to get themselves reelected so they can to amass more money and corrupt this country.

BAE
BAE
3 years ago

Too many of the old ones are just as bad as the democrats. The old republicans are part of the swamp. Too rich too powerful and way TOO corrupt! Out with the old in with the new!

Honey
Honey
3 years ago

We cannot allow S1 to pass or any variation of it. We must keep election law in the hands of the state egislatures or we will never have a free country again.

Ed J
Ed J
3 years ago

Are there any young conservative candidates in the Peoples Republic of ☭alifornia here on the Left Coast who will be running to unseat Madame Poop-Tart Pelosi, Schiff for Brains and Maxi-Pad Waters? Hope so, because these three treasonous Libtards especially need to be shown the door.

Karen
Karen
3 years ago

It’s nice to know there are younger conservatives, and hopefully enough to make sure the USA is victorious in 2022 and 2024. Because what I see now is a generation of garbage, hopefully in the minority.

Art
Art
3 years ago

So this proposed group of “conservatives” is young and exciting. Some of the Royal and Ancients that they want to replace were young and exciting once. Notice there are no proposals for term limits either voted for or self imposed like JC Watts and Steve Largent. Do they propose to age in place like their predecessors or actually work hard to make meaningful change? how about do a great job and then go home? TOUGH TO DO. HE LURE OF POWER IS STRONG.

Wanda
Wanda
3 years ago

The younger generation wants free everything….this is the reason they vote Biden….but you also have to consider that there was flagrant voting fraud in the 2020 election….Biden did not win, he was installed….

M.B.
M.B.
3 years ago

It would be a breath of fresh air to get rid of these fossils in the house , and the Senate. Republicans as well. There are only a handful of Republicans that actually are fighting to keep this country a Republic. I’m from Illinois, and deal with DICKY Durban, and Tammy Duckworth . These two are worthless to this state. Tammy . . . yes, thank you for your service, but you’re awful. California is the worst . . . Shiff, Waters, & Pelosi . I almost want to vomit typing their names. Go young blood, and let’s set some term limits !

JohnH
JohnH
3 years ago

Biden on TV this week pleading for people to get vaccinated —- but then the bad news is that a large percent of people coming across South Border have Covid-19. Biden & Harris have to admit and fix the border problem instead of ignoring. Go back to way Trump ran Borden control.

Peggy
Peggy
3 years ago

We need someone to run against John Yarmanth in Louisville Kentucky. We have had some good people running against him but we don’t have enough people backing them. Louisville is a Democratic city. Please help.

Daniel Penny
biden and harris speaking in black and white
A row of supercomputers running simulations of quantum cryptography algorithms to test their efficiency and effectiveness
President Joe Biden, son Hunter Biden and sister Valerie Biden walk across the South Lawn of The White House on July 28, 2024 in Washington, DC. President Biden is returning from a weekend trip to Camp David. (Photo by Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images)

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