GOP is no longer the party of old, white men. Meet the conservative women on the rise.

Editor's note: This is the fifth in a series of columns exploring the future of the Republican Party and the conservative movement. 

GQ recently came out with a glowing cover profile of New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (aka AOC), calling the Democrat “the political voice of a generation – and a cultural star whose power transcends politics.”

She is undoubtedly a celebrity among far-left Democrats. But she’s hardly a spokeswoman for everyone in her generation, nor for all women.

Democratic women have run and won in record numbers since 2018. Republicans are catching on, however, that a diversity of candidates plays better with voters, and women on the right are starting to change the face of the GOP.

Conservative ideals benefit all, and women candidates could testify

As a conservative woman myself, I find this a positive trend, just as I do an increase of racially diverse candidates. Conservative ideals, including individual liberty and limited government, benefit all of us, but women candidates are in a better position to sell fellow women on them.

From Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina governor, to Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears to Supreme Court Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, conservative women are proving they have what it takes to lead. Haley is widely considered a presidential contender in 2024, and Rep. Liz Cheney has hinted at a run after her Wyoming primary defeat.

Conservative women are working on the front lines and behind the scenes to shape politics and policy that affect all of us, and I recently had the opportunity to speak with some of these influencers.

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A concerted effort to elect Republican women

Women for decades have voted at higher rates than men, and the Democratic Party has long had a hold on women voters, with 56% of female registered voters in 2018 and 2019 identifying as Democrats or likely Democratic voters. Minority women are even more likely to vote Democratic.

If more Republican women stepped up to run, those numbers could change.

After Democratic women experienced a “pink wave” in 2018, Republicans realized they needed to play catch-up. At that time, the number of Republican women in the U.S. House had fallen to only 13.

Thanks to the efforts of some in the party – notably New York Rep. Elise Stefanik – more women were recruited to run and they were supported along the way. In 2020, the number of Republican women in the House nearly doubled.

There’s still a long way to go to match the number of Democratic women in Congress, but 2022 is promising to be another strong year for women on the right, with a similar number in the running for Congress this year as in 2020.

More conservative women are running for governor as well. A record 37 Republican women filed this year, and nine (also a record) have become nominees. In Michigan, Tudor Dixon is the first woman to run as the Republican nominee for governor.

Women aren't single-issue voters

According to the Center for American Women and Politics, 123 women now serve in the U.S. House of Representatives: 91 Democrats and 32 Republicans. Out of 24 women in the Senate, eight are Republican.

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told me that boosting the number of women in the party was a goal for her when she took over the post in 2017. She’s the second woman to hold the job.

“It is something that's near and dear to my heart to have more women in our party as messengers,” McDaniel said. “We vote for candidates based on merit, but we also understand the importance of having different voices in our party.”

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She said Democrats tend to put women into single-issue buckets, such as abortion. Republicans don’t want to do that.

“Women are a lot more complicated,” McDaniel said. “We don't have the ability to think about one thing all day. So Republicans treat women as the whole voter. Women care about health care. We care about education, we care about jobs, about the economy. We care about national security.”

A 'triple threat' in Texas

In South Texas, three Hispanic Republican women are considered a “triple threat” to win in November: Rep. Mayra Flores, the first Mexican-born woman to serve in Congress, won a special election for Texas’ 34th Congressional District this year and is up again in November. Monica De La Cruz is running for the 15th District, and Cassy Garcia is running in the 28th.

Garcia is a first-time candidate but isn’t new to politics, having served as deputy state director for Sen. Ted Cruz. She was also appointed by former President Donald Trump in 2020 to serve as commissioner for the White House Hispanic Prosperity Initiative.

She’s looking to flip a historically blue seat and unseat an incumbent congressman, and the district is rated as a toss-up by Real Clear Politics.

When Garcia is out on the campaign trail and knocking on doors, she said, most people tell her theyhave never had a Hispanic Republican as a candidate. She said the GOP has an opportunity to attract more Latino voters in states like Texas, where border and drug issues are front and center. Frustration with longstanding Democratic representation is encouraging more voters to look across the aisle.

“It's so exciting to see so many Hispanics join the Republican Party,” Garcia said. “This is a positive development. I feel that there's more people ready for new representation in the district.”

Between 2016 and 2020, Trump made significant gains among Hispanics nationwide, the majority of whom have been loyal to Democrats, and he saw some of his biggest gains in South Texas.

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A seat to flip in Ohio?

Another candidate who stands out is Madison Gesiotto Gilbert, who is running for an open congressional seat in Ohio. Incumbent Democrat Tim Ryan is running for the Senate, and Republicans say they have a good chance to flip the district red.

Gilbert is an attorney with experience in conservative commentary, and she is a former Miss Ohio USA. Clearly passionate about her community, she said she was tired of sitting on the sidelines. She's happy to be part of a growing number of diverse Republican candidates.

“I think we're going to continue to see that shift in the party,” Gilbert said. “And I think it's going to be beneficial as we welcome new voters and faces into the party. Because at the end of the day, we're on the right side of the policies, and we have the commonsense solutions that can positively impact people. We need to be sharing that more and more in places that Republicans in the past were afraid to go and really just ignored.”

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Conservatism is not anti-woman

It’s not just conservative women running for public office who are making a difference. It’s also those who are actively working to shape policy.

One who stands out is Erin Morrow Hawley, who serves as senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom. Hawley worked on the legal team that helped Mississippi defend its 15-week abortion ban before the U.S. Supreme Court – the pivotal case that led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June.

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In addition to being a successful lawyer and former clerk to Chief Justice John Roberts, Hawley is the wife of GOP Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley. She has also written a book on motherhood.

Hawley said letting states decide how they want to protect life is a win for women. “As a mother of three, it was just amazing to be able to play a role in that,” Hawley told me.

Abortion has become a key issue in the midterm elections, yet the focus is most often on women pushing for abortion rights. This ignores many conservative women who believe restrictions on abortion are a good thing and would like more say in crafting state laws.

As issues like abortion become front and center, it's even more pivotal for women to get involved in politics.

Carrie Lukas, president of Independent Women’s Forum, said having more engaged women on the right is a positive thing.

“I think it's an important part of exposing the lie that somehow conservatism is anti-woman,” Lukas said. “It sticks a lot less when you've got a lot of strong women who are in positions of power and who are the ones speaking up against that notion.”

I look forward to seeing more conservative women on the ballot in coming elections. It will change the GOP for the better.

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques 

Meet the team

COLUMNISTS: Ingrid Jacques, Chris Schlak, Tim Swarens, John Wood Jr.
EDITORS: Kristen DelGuzzi, Louie Villalobos, Thuan Le Elston, Tim Swarens
DIGITAL PRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT: Ryan Marx, Reid Williams
SOCIAL MEDIA, ENGAGEMENT AND PROMOTION: Janessa Hilliard

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How conservative women are changing the face of the Republican Party