An intense amount of political energy over the next two years will be dedicated to winning back the House—and for our most competitive women there’s no such thing as too soon. 

Recruitment for the next cycle is already starting, and we should all urge the DSCC and DCCC to prioritize women. We’ve written at length how national Democrats’ poor recruitment of women during the last cycle led to a decline in the overall number of women running. 

In fact, the 2025 freshman class of new women in the House will be the smallest since 2017, when it was 15. There are only 19 new women taking seats next year—15 Democrats and 2 Republicans who won open seats, and 2 Democrats who flipped seats. That’s down from the 22 new women in 2023, 27 in 2021 and 42 in 2019, after the Blue Wave.

One big thing we can do right now to encourage women to run in 2026 is financially support the women who ran this year—the freshman women most likely to have tough re-election fights. Funding for these women now sends a message of early strength:

• Laura Gillen, NY-4: D+2, Flip 
• Janelle Bynum, NY-5: D+2, Flip 
• Kristen McDonald Rivet, MI-8: D+7, Hold 
• April McClain-Delaney, MD-6: D+6, Hold 
• Maggie Goodlander, NH-2: D+6, Hold

We have to start now if we want to replicate the gains women made during the first midterm of Trump’s first term. We’re optimistic we can do it. Please give $25 or more to our Head Start slate.