McMorris Rodgers makes a Top 25 list
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers made the cover of a national magazine, and landed on its Top 25 list.
She's sharing the list and the cover with some pretty high profile Democrats. And while the cover of National Journal is not the cover of the Rolling Stone, for political types it might be better.
The political magazine named the Eastern Washington Republican to its list of Top 25 Influential Women in Washington, D.C.
She made the list with First Lady Michelle Obama, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Secretary of State Nancy Pelosi and California Sen. Diane Feinstein. The list included some other Republicans, too, including Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and former Rep. Susan Molinari.
The list is alphabetical, so there's no numeric ranking. A link to the whole story is here.
A copy of their article on McMorris Rodgers can be found inside the blog.
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington state is the highest-ranking woman in the House GOP leadership, the congressional liaison to presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, and on the list of potential candidates to be Romney’s running mate. What is she most proud of? “I’m proud to be a mom. I love being a mom. I love that experience and watching my kids grow and learn and being a part of their lives,” she said. “Because of my kids, I’m a better representative.”
McMorris Rodgers is not the first woman to give birth while serving in national elected office—that distinction goes to former Rep. Yvonne Braithwaite Burke, D-Calif., in 1973—but she is the first woman to give birth twice as a member of Congress. Her 5-year-old son, Cole, was born with the genetic condition commonly known as Down syndrome, which gave McMorris Rodgers a new reason to advocate for people with disabilities. Her daughter, Grace, was born in December 2010.
McMorris Rodgers, 43, is in her fourth congressional term and her second term as vice chair of the House Republican Conference. She is the only woman and the youngest member of the elected House Republican leadership. Romney tapped her in May to be his eyes and ears in Congress after she endorsed him in December and agreed to help with his campaign in Washington state. “It’s just bringing some leadership in the House and unifying the members,” she said of her role with the Romney camp.
Along with Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., McMorris Rodgers led the House Republican response to the Supreme Court’s landmark decision upholding the individual mandate in President Obama’s health care law, saying that it is “still unworkable” even if it is constitutional. Romney is right in sync with that idea, she said. “He has never supported a national mandate.”
By Fawn Johnson