president trump agreed to reopening the government for three weeks with temporary funding at current levels. both the house and senate must pass the proposal before the president can sign it. the deal is temporary so congressional leaders can negotiate over border security and a wall or barrier at the southern border. workers at nine federal departments are expected to get back pay after a month of either working without pay or being furloughed. in his announcement president trump said if congress doesn't provide border or barrier funding by february 15, he will take action himself.

the richard dean story doesn't end there. this last november he was forced out of his office when the government shutdown and the second time the government shutdown, he contended helping social security recipients but was working without pay. on behalf of richard dean and his family and all the other people who are out there working every day doing a good job for the american people, i challenge all of you in this chamber, let never, ever shut the federal government down again. saturday stone hill college professor on how the state of the union has changed since the time of george washington. >> clinton scored here. that he scored politically. so we start to see that the

address, the lure of politics is too great for many presidents. this is wilson's small constitutional presidency. it is designed for party leadership. and so presidents don't avoid the opportunity to use the address to try to score political points. we are way far away from the address that george washington would have given. >> this weekend on american history tv on c-span 3. several democratic senators have announced they are running for the white house. one person not running is tom stier, a billionaire hedgefund manager and major democratic party donor.

he held a press briefing to discuss his group need to impeach and its advertising campaign calling for the impeachment of president trump. this is 20 minutes. >> i want to thank you for coming and showing up on such short notice. a year ago yesterday i announced that i would be focussing on two things in 2018, engaging young voters and pushing for impeachment. i believed those would make the biggest differential positive impact in our country. and they did. next genamerica engineered the largest in american history and the nearly 7 million americans

organized by need to impeach put the impeachment question squarely into the political conversation. i said last year that i am willing to do whatever i can to protect our country from this reckless, lawless and dangerous president. every day since, mr. trump has revealed new depths to his incompetence, his corruption and his cruelty. the threat he poses to the american people has only grown. now the impeachment question has reached an inflection point. therefore, i will be dedicating 100% of my time, effort and resources to one cause, working for mr. trump's impeachment and removal from office. i am not running for president at this time, instead, i am strengthening my commitment to

need to impeach in 2019. until the house starts impeachment proceedings or mr. trump resigns. that is how we will define success. today i am announcing the following actions with more to come in the near future. we will be holding town halls across the country including three more this month in nevada, new hampshire and washington, d.c. we'll host an organizing summit in our nation's capitol to further detail our plans. we will be launching a public education campaign to deepen americans' understanding of mr. trump's impeachable offenses. we will be organizing grass roots efforts urging presidential candidates to back impeachment. and we will be rallying our nearly 7 million supporters to continue pushing their representatives to vote for

impeachment. by the way, that number has been going up by more than 10,000 people a day including more than 30,000 people yesterday. at the same time, we will continue to grow and expand our outreach. that work will be nationwide with particular emphasis on the constituents of representatives nadler, waters, neil, cummings and schiff and the 22 republican senators who are up for reelection in 2020. and i will be supporting these actions along with more to come beginning with a $40 million investment. since we started need to impeach we have emphasized that our mission is not driven by our political differences with this president. i do disagree with him openly and publically. but i'm calling for his

impeachment because it is the right thing to do for america and for all the american people. the simple truth is mr. trump has repeatedly abused the powers of the presidency and the constitution demands accountability. it's past time for members of congress to fulfill their oath of office. they must stand up for democracy and the rule of law. and if they can't find their way clear to act, then the people must insist that this president be held accountable. as i said, need to impeach has given nearly 7 million americans a platform to do just that. i'm committed to growing it and to organizing people across this country to demand this president's removal. it's the right time and it's the right thing to do. last january, over 50 constitutional scholars explained that mr. trump had already committed eight

impeachable offenses and warned if left unchecked he would continue to violate the constitution. the response from washington was that we needed to wait sprt special counsel's report. without question, that investigation must continue and we will guard against any interference from the administration and insist on transparency because the american people deserve to learn the truth which will be even more devastating. that investigation along with the southern district of new york and the new york attorney general's work has already exposed some of this president's long history of lawlessness. we now know without a doubt that mr. trump has been surrounded by deceitful, corrupt associates for years. several have been indicted. federal prosecutors directed

that mr. trump directed an associate to commit the crimes. and the democratic's house'sover sight will reveal much more evidence. that has no bearing on what we already know. mr. trump continues to commit impeachable offenses. we do not have to wait to move forward. the debate over whether or not grounds for impeachment exist is over. he met the criteria long ago. the question remaining is what congress will do. it is urgent that they put aside their political considerations and do what is right. some continue to argue that holding the president accountable would be too divisive. they are avoiding the truth. mr. trump has made division

itself the center piece of his presidency. he doesn't govern. he creates crisis to remain in power and he will not stop spreading lies to the american people as he did last night in this nationally teleicized oval office address. it will only get worse as his senior advisers continue to leave his administration and their warning to the country grows louder with every successive resignation letter. the democratic house majority can begin to end this madness today by folding the scope of their oversight efforts into broader impeachment proceedings. the process will take time. that is why speaker pelosi should select a bipartisan group of lawmakers to start immediately. the longer they wait, the more

they normalize mr. trump's unacceptable destructive acts and the more they enable him. so patriots across this country must stand up for the constitution and demand action. that's why i feel compelled to continue elevating the voices of millions of americans who understand what their representatives cannot bear to admit. most people come to iowa around this time tho announce a campain for the presidency. i am proud to be here to announce that i will do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to remove a president, not because i disagree with his policies but because the people must do what our elected officials have been unable or unwilling to do, hold president trump accountable. if we can show that our

democracy works, if the people are able to hold a president accountable for his illegal actions, then there is hope that we can fix what is broken and return to the work of moving forward and up together as one nation. the right time to do the right thing is always right now. thank you. >> [ inaudible ]. >> let me say that i don't know what the field of 2020 candidates is. i have seen literally as we all have dozens of people. so before i would even comment, i would like to see both who actually declares for the presidency and what they have to say. i think not to wait for that would be really premature. >> a lot of conversation about

impeachment [ inaudible ] is that the right way to talk about impeachment? >> i understand how upset and angry americans are across the nation by the criminality and danger represented by this president. i believe that the impeachment and removal of a president is an awfully serious action. so i have tried in every conversation i have had to be aware both of the breadth of opinion across america and to respect americans in saying that if we are going to do this kind of incredibly important challenging historic action that we should take it with the seriousness which i believe it deserves. >> [ inaudible ].

>> listen, i think trying to organize the american people to impeach and is the most positi impactful thing i can do. and if you are saying, if that is the layout that i fall back on, i would have to say to you, i am taking on what i think is the biggest possible challenge i could . -- >> i think this is the most important thing i can do. i think there is no way to say that trying to move the american people to impeach and remove the president as a step down a difficulty . but my real point here, i am trying to do what i think is the most important right thing . i

understand your question. i am saying if you look at it on a historical basis this is the biggest challenge i can imagine. -- >> yes over the last six years. i have organize what might be the largest grassroots organization in the united states. we have pushed consistently for the broadest possible democracy . we have gone out to communities and age groups who are underrepresented and worked to involve them . because i believe in the grassroots, just as senator warren does . as opposed to commenting on something that isn't happening i would just like to say if you look at my record and the record of our organizations what we have pushed for is the

broadest possible democracy. if you look at what we are doing today what counts is the voice of the american people we are trying to enable, encourage, empower their voice to be heard in this country. this is the most important thing , and most serious voice in the world. >> -- >> and that was what i was trying to say earlier on . i don't know who the candidates are . i'm not sure exactly what the basis is for their candidacies. i think it's super premature to think about appeared >> -- >> i don't want to speculate on

what speaker pelosi is speaking. every single time i have asked myself about impeachment i only asked to . are we telling a important truth which i believe we are. are we standing up for the american people and the constitution? and if the answer is we are telling an important truth in standing up for the american people and the constitution that means we are doing the right thing . if someone says there are tactical, political reasons not to do the right thing not to stand up for the country than i would say that is not the basis on which we are making our decision . we are trying, i am personally trying to do the right thing because i think it is really important. i think there is a huge, dangerous threat to our country posed by our president. >> -- >> i tried to describe some of the efforts that we are going

to push for including grassroots , national education campaign and trying to organize people including the 7 million people who are on our list to be pushing the representative to understand what the people of america care about. for to a very large extent we are going to have to look at exactly how it works but conceptually what we are trying to do is rally the american people to understand how big the threat is and to insist that the system work and that we get rid of a corrupt, lawless, dangerous president. >> -- >> if you look at what happened last year and then look about what is necessary to happen in terms of getting climate

control under control? you will see that going up 3.4% is a disaster. we have a president who has a policy of denying what is happening and strictly lying about appeared and is trying to enable polluters to put the help and economic prospects of america, let alone their safety, at risk . so i don't think i mean you can look at all his administration policies. you can look at his appointments. i think what you see is a consistent policy of supporting polluters at the expense of the health, safety and economic prospects of americans . it is across the board. and i think that that number is a shocking number when you realize that in fact we have to be taking that number down by 10% a year. >> --

>> what i am saying is this, no one knows what's going to happen in the future, including me. but what i do think is important and what i have seen in the last two years, it is important to actually organize the voice of america . there is no existing institution prepared to do that work. so from my standpoint it goes back to lincoln's point that anything can be done with public opinion, almost nothing can be done without public opinion. the voice of the american people is the most important power in this land and what we are trying to do is give those people their voice . give them their power. and in terms of exactly how it's going to work, honestly, none of us really know. >> -- >> oh, no.

>> -- >> removal. >> -- >> the way that this will work and the way this should work and the way this has always worked has really been about the voice of the american people. and that is democrats, republicans, and independents. and if the american people don't exist on it i don't believe this will happen. so the answer to your question is, at some point, republican senators will ask themselves what their own constituents are demanding.

and whether it is better to abandon this disaster of a president or to support him. and that decision will be largely made, not by them but by the people of america. that is why we are going directly to the people in a grassroots effort. which is what we always do. >> -- >> you know it is funny, because i have always said, impeachment is the beginning. getting rid of this lawless, reckless, dangerous president is a first step to restoring america toward the path of justice and prosperity. but obviously we need a positive vision for how we are going to work together after he is removed. so, i'm going to be working 100% for impeachment . but at

the same time i recognize fully that is a step . it is a necessary first step. we have to do it. but i know for sure there has to be a positive vision on the other side. >> -- >> you know right now i think they should be thinking of me doing this full time because consistently every time i'm going to do the thing that has the most positive impact i can think of. i think i have been consistent in that . if there is a time when i think running will be the most positive thing i can do i will definitely do it . but at this point, this is my

firm conviction that this is how i can make the best difference in terms of working for the people of america. >> -- >> i think, the mueller investigation will confirm what we already know, that we already have information to know that this president has committed impeachable offenses and we have known that for a long time . i think the mueller investigation for some people particularly inside the beltway will be the seal of approval that what we already know is in fact true. but i think that and so i am not trying to say it is not important. what i am saying is, it will always be an education effort here . i doubt that every

american is going to read the mueller investigation. so i think there is a need to educate, empower, organize the voice of the people of america to insist that the up impeachable offenses result in impeachment and removal. >> -- >> thank you. >> -- president trump agreed to reopening the government for three weeks with temporary funding at current levels. both the house and the senate have passed the proposal before

the resident can sign it . the deal is temporary so congressional leaders can negotiate over border security on a wall or barrier at the southern border. workers at nine federal departments are expected to get back pay after a month of working without pay or being furloughed. in his announcement today president trump said if congress doesn't provide border or barrier funny by february 15 he will take action himself. c-span3 where history unfolds daily . in 1979 c-span was created for as a public service by america's cable television company. today we continue to bring you unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the supreme court. and washington dc and around the country. c-span is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider.

female republican candidates now have a political action committee aimed at helping them run for congress. the pack was started by u.s. congresswoman to recruit and elect republican women. consultants, former candidates and pack leaders discuss their plans. this is two hours. >> thank you everyone i'm glad to see that the crowd is still here. we have some amazing panels before we close out our launch day . i'm excited to introduce our fourth panel. that's a trick i learned from kevin mccarthy . our fourth panel is the operative's behind-

the-scenes . as i was putting together this panel i really thought about who are the best and brightest when it comes to our operatives. communications, campaign manager, strategist, and all of these have worked for and worked with elected officials and women candidates. they are just the top of their field. moderating the us panel is. -- we are so excited to have you. also joining us is ashley o'connor, managing partner of strategic partners in media. come on up ashley. parker polly who we are very excited is serving as the executive director of the and rcc, this cycle. i happen to know parker is from saratoga county which i represent in my district so

very excited to have her here today. >> savage are brave male operative who is joining us on this panel who is working for amazing women, republican candidates that we have heard from today. and ashley who is the former speaker for paul ryan . give her a warm welcome. i just want to say ashley took a day off from skiing in montana to come back here . so we are very excited to have her . lee so i will turn it over to you to kick it off. >> thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here . we are so excited you are taking this big challenge on. right here great way to kick it off. congratulations. this is a killer panel of people. i'm very excited to moderate this. first off, big picture thinking. what each of you think is the biggest challenge facing republican women who are thinking about running in 2020?

anyone want to take that first one? >> sure, thank you. good to be here. every election is different, every campaign is different. thinking about this, really think the biggest challenge dependent on your campaign there are some things that are uniformly challenging for women candidates. i work for a lot of women candidates coming back 20 years. couple things in mind to point out. number one, too often women automatically get pegged as moderate candidate or more moderate than they are . something that's a real disadvantage in a primary. the recent survey early this month economists polled i thought was interesting i'm going to go to the notes here . so apologize for looking down . 1500 people nationwide and only 40% of people said they were entirely comfortable with a female secretary of defense and

only 51 percent of people said they were uncomfortable with a female president. one in five said they had a concern that women would not be tough enough to handle issues like terrorism. so this is a challenge across the board. you cannot start with this kind of a deficit and not be prepared to address it. those are things all women deal with. the good thing is, they also ask about 14 specific issues. i thought this was interesting. 13 of those 14, people said uniformly that women were more prepared, handling the economy, dealing with the deficit, things like honesty, ethics, standing up for your principles, role model. women outscored in all those categories with one exception, handling defense issues. these are the kind of things i think women have to be prepared to address at the outset of the campaign. have to have a plan of dealing

with that at the outset. >> i also think one thing that women are going to need to overcome in 2020, republican women is dispelling the notion that republicans are anti- women. we have seen this war on women, the playbook cycle after cycle. i think it will be coming again. really making sure you are talking to suburban women, independent women making sure they understand that the republican party is not anti- women like the narrative that is going to be out there for that issue. came off governor hogan's very successful campaign. you guys did that really will are there some strategies there that you would advise people or best practices you can pass along? >> sure, i think first of all we are helped by governor hogan who is a fantastic candidate

had a great record to stand behind. to me one of the key parts to that campaign was that we remained authentic to who he was. we really listened to what he wanted to be talking about. what people in the community thought about him. we use a lot of testimonials because he was this great governor that reached across all party lines. we really took the time to make sure those stories were getting out there both through advertising, digital, television, radio . and i think that is really important, making sure your story is out there and making sure that you are remaining authentic and engaged. >> i think a big challenge not just for women candidates, as a house person i think are big challenges to break through the clutter, between the

presidential and higher ticket races i think it's going to be tough to break through and get oxygen. i will just say obviously not a great cycle in terms of a win, loss record. but it feels like some women have awakened by that looking at the results of the saying i am a republican i want to step up. i mean we have already sent a bunch of women candidates over to them to meet with . those are people who are coming to us. it may be just our gift before the dawn. >> mine is similar to parker 20 cycle, i think it is obvious that will dominate the new cycle that is my focus. obviously the challenge for republican women, democrat women, democrat men and women across the board all candidates are going to have a challenge in breaking through and

defining who they are. i think defining who you are early will isolate you from the crazy that may or may not, neither side of the aisle. in 2020. and having principles as parker said and policies that you stand for and a reputation that you can be known for is important to help insulate you from whatever may come your way from the top of the ticket on either side of the ticket. i think that is important in the challenge. something our candidates can easily do. if they get ahead of the cycle avenue others have often done . many of these cycles in the past . >> one of the things i found pretty exciting watching campaigns and women who are running across the country. they really are going with a standard like this is how women should run they were running how they should run and best tell the story. i honestly think blazing trails with this when you are doing her media, when she ran a

couple months ago . we really saw that. i point out, congresswoman carol miller just loved her add, take the bull out of congress. it is so her, saying authenticity is so important. how do you think women can really make races their own? ashley do you have good advice for that? >> it is my experience that women are running for a reason. and i think to make sure that race is your own you need to sit down and let everybody know why you are running. and then asked the question, how do i win which mark so often i hear, candidates of how am i going to win, why am i running? women come to the table with a passion for why they want to do this. and that tends to drive their campaign . you need to let everybody on your team what that is. make sure that doesn't ever get

away from you. i think staying very driven with your message, reason for running for this announcement throughout the campaign all the way to your closing arguments for election day and asking for the vote is very key in keeping that race as your own. the other thing i would say is pushback on your team when you need to . say you are not listening to me . i think that is really important to give, really candidates that permission to say this is your race. it is okay to say, that's not what i want to do and that's not how i feel. make sure your team is listening to you because they work for you. >> that is great advice. parker, obviously democrats had a lot of success the cycle. a lot of women got elected on the other side. what do you think led to their success? are there some takeaways from their success that we can implement on our side? >> yes, i think historically

they have the wind at their back . you can't ignore that in the average president's party lost 32 seats . our candidates were at a disadvantage and there's were at a advantage to be going. beyond that i really think they did a good job of finding a blank slate candidates without a lot to attack. i do think they did a good job of supporting their female candidates . you just hear anecdotally, their female candidates had texting together where they were supporting each other they were helping each other. they have emily's list, the women's donor network that they had was really extraordinary. i really think we can learn from that and try and do our best to replicate if not leapfrog their message. >> what i was struck by is how their stories really went viral

. maybe we saw that with the woman who ran in texas and obviously the woman who ran against andy barr in kentucky. other ways our republican women is a think about putting together their campaign and lunches, as they are starting to tell their story what part of advice did you give them? >> this is a great opportunity for our party, traditionally candidates work their way up through the state legislature where women are vastly underrepresented already in america. have less of those opportunities. those women were successful because they had unique stories. great opportunity to go out and find some people with unique backgrounds. if we do that, i think there will be creative ways to tell that story. when we do that. we collectively need to understand that people with unique backgrounds are going to have unique ways of running their campaign . we can't

demand the same deliverable the same we demand from these candidates. who has than most name id someone new and unique background. one of my favorite candidates from last cycle is here today. ashley nicholas. she flies planes. she's been deployed since 9/11. that is the whole flipping point. let's figure it out. let's help. emily's list the most important thing about emily's list to me that gi sensor early need to do these things very early in the cycle to give people a chance . you can't really just hope that really get women make it to the final two weeks of the primary and they say yeah we are all for you now. we have to make some bad bets let's go make that on a bunch of people were going to make some mistakes. >> i heard a couple democratic women say how they thought they

weren't asking for permission to run, to your point. they had different kind of experience. they had not been elected prior but they weren't asking for permission i think that is something as we think of our candidates going forward. they don't need to ask for permission. obviously going to mention a few here. i hope ludvig sets and people doing that . >> how do you think republican women grab the attention of young undecided voters? obviously millennial women are going to be very important not just now but cycles to, and how can we attract millennial's? >> that's a great question as a millennial woman on the upper end of the scale. for too long we haven't shown up . i think it is a matter of showing a . it's a matter of meeting people where they are.

and what that could mean on the national level. what a commune at the district level? state senate or whatever else more local level. for example the national level i participated in in an interview. people are fantastic i didn't know them before going and i wasn't exactly sure what to expect from a women's outlet that was more mainstream. i have countless people emailing and texting me people i didn't even know, direct messaging me saying, you are someone like me. we can't underestimate how much there are people out there who want to be involved to are conservative who are women who are millennial's and who have never seen someone, or do who don't have people in their friend circle who are like them. i think the more we normalize this idea the more we embrace

that there are people like us. and we are willing to go and talk to those people and be out front and say what we stand for and not be afraid and not be shy not be timid. it is important. i said the local level for candidates who are trying to reach these millennial women who may or may not be involved already. listening . going and listening and having conversations for coffee shops having conversations wherever people are gathering, higher education institutions going and spending your time having coffee having conversations where people go so far, just putting yourself out there and being vulnerable being relatable. i think it's something the democrats do better than we do. i think they show up they are vulnerable they make themselves available and they seem like humans. we need to do that more often. that is a pretty simple thing. but i think it is something for one reason or another whether it is fear, indifference,

whether it is prioritizing other things, we are not showing up enough. we are not having those human interactions in those conversations. we are not reaching those people we are leaving a lot out there when we really ought to be seizing this ground. there are people out there that believe in what we believe in i think we really ought to be just talking with them and listening to them. i think one of the biggest problems we are having in terms of getting more women through primaries that is the real challenge for the party. a key reason why a lease is here. kim you worked in a lot of republican primaries and had some recent success . but i know sometimes it has been really difficult. what you think are the best ways to get through the primaries what do we need to do more of collectively as a party? what advice can you give to women who are running? >> i think a lot of times i can

say, 20 years of working with candidates of all kinds . seems to me women are little more hesitant sometimes to get involved in a primary situation. >> as candidates first and foremost. i would say the first thing we need to do is encourage those folks and say do you think you're the best candidate? is this something you really want to do? if you think you can do a better job and go do it. we need to say look, no sure things. accept the fact that you don't control everything on this process. if you really believe that you're the best candidate is go do it. we have to flood the zone we need many more candidates running. first and foremost. the second thing is we need them running and sees that we can win. there are no moral victories here we shouldn't pat ourselves on the back for candidates that have no chance of being successful.

and lastly, i think, again, money is important . always say that money is not the most important thing in a campaign. but that options are. the problem with that, options almost always cost money. so we have to support these people financially, early and often and give them the tools they need to win those campaigns. the last thing i will say is there are a lot of groups, outside groups in this town and around the country get involved in primaries. recently reviewing the statistics of one very prominent group that is interested in physical issues. the last 14 years they have endorsed 155 candidates all but nine of them have been men. this is essentially a group the supports men. one of the women was sharon ingalls twice. my point is, there has to be entities like this who are willing to be a backstop. i mean they don't have to be

but we are all talking about a crisis. we need to figure that out. there has to be some people that are willing to say, who are willing to put our money where our mouth is . and help these folks. there essentially groups on the other side doing the opposite. >> anybody else on that? i think what you also said earlier, people have to be willing to take that. sometimes we're going to come up short many times we will . do we actually have to get in there and make the bet and early. that is something known for get into go and get early periods of provide support. >> back your original point. if there was something they knew that existed much easier to get quality candidates to get that commitment. very difficult to run a great campaign. in this group is going to come in and spent millions of dollars and to say terrible things about you and you're not going to enjoy it pretty much. they want to lose. i am pretty good at a pitch and

a recruiter but that is a hard thing to overcome. >> anybody else have a reaction to the question? >> i think dc group should be involved in primaries . is wanting to have support of dc, smart, talented people but you have to have that local support. that is critical so figured out a way, i don't have an answer but i think that is a challenge that we face, identifying those county chairs. identifying the local officials on the ground who are the ones licking envelopes and doing the hard work. making sure that you have their support and they are going to embrace someone who was breaking up the boys club as it might be and i think that is something we need to have a larger conversation about. how do we infiltrate at the local level and how do we maybe have a story or unknown or have been a doctor, mechanic some other type of job and not involved as a volunteer their

whole life local pachyderm . how do we get those people involved at the local level? how do we get them to be supported by those influential local people? >> what main policy issue do think women should focus on in their next election? do you think they should focus on big policy issues are local issues and running a more localized campaign and are there , campaigns we saw what the democrats ran on the past time i think that added to their success somewhat. but are there some key issues you think are good for women candidates to be talking about? >> all of my panelists had brought up the fact that at the top of the ticket is going to be a challenge for women, republican women that are running . i think the democrats are going to want to nationalize this is much as

they can. focus on the policies and the issues that matter to your voters. ashley had mentioned lesson . i think going and listening to the people in your community and listening to what is on their mind and understanding what is impacting their lives and how you can help make a change for the better? i think the more you can listen and learn and make those issues local i really try to avoid the nationalize is going to happen. it is important. then i also think a little bit of who you are, why you are uniquely qualified to determine the issues and policies that you are going to be focusing on. keep those policies about what your uniquely qualified on as well as making sure you're keeping it tied to the community that you are running and helping to represent . >> there a lot of issues that may not be top of mind for

voters but when there is a candidate who is really passionate about it quickly does become top of mind to them. and telling your own story. even some of the issues you see in the top one or two or three in a survey. they might not be the ones that even going to resonate most because those are the ones that they are comfortable talking about her someone is passionate about . >> absolutely i think so often let's look at the survey and see what matters. if you're not comfortable with it and you're not really authentic and be open and honest about why it matters to you? all you're doing is regurgitating talking points. i think that can really hurt any candidate and certainly republican women that are running . i think authenticity is key i really do. >> anyone else? >> i think some of the, what we are going to tell our candidates, male and female, yes local and we're going to have a contrast between some of

the new democrats that have joined the house whose policies are really extreme and yes we have our divisive figures in our party. we now also have something to push back with. >> a one to jump up. i have a question, she was the executive director in the cycle when i ran she had seen a lot of successful women candidates get through primaries and general election in all types of duster. i wanted to ask you, you have seen hundreds of candidates. you have seen candidates that have run and one in primaries and in general elections. why is it so important what strength do they bring to the table is candidates i know that is a broad question. each candidate is individual. but i am curious about what your reflection is because you have multiple cycles to reflect on . >> i think the party has a crisis, clearly with republican

women candidates . also have a crisis with women voters . the kind of go hand-in-hand in many ways . i think we have a great opportunity to win back a lot of mostly suburban but a lot of women voters across the country because our ideas they believe in. i think women candidates many times have a great story to tell and the way and what i found not just with you but with others. the willingness to want to get things done, is a very high priority for voters especially women voters. i think the sort of candidates i think that did really well over the years. they were able to communicate that kind of message. they're coming here to make mont washington work. they're here to solve problems in their district they are delivering. your act that produce last

cycle told that exact story. when you're very focus on what the mission actually is. that is what is important to voters. i think it was mostly women candidates had a very unique perspective on that and were able to communicate that in a way. because i think our mind things like that in a way . >> i want to tie what you said and asked both ashley and parker, ashley and parker i have worked with extensively on the official site . parker was one of the top staffers on the house floor for republicans when we were in the majority. she was able to see how important it was to have strong women leaders in our conference. ashley headed up communications and was a national spokesperson for speaker of the house paul ryan. someone asked the two of you. when we get women candidates elected, how do they add to our conference why do they act when it comes to government? >> i was nodding while lisa was

talking because like women candidates i have found women members want to get stuff done. and they are think a little more willing to work across the aisle, more willing to compromise, more willing to see the forest for the trees. i mean i worked primarily in the whip operation where we had to corral members and i'm not saying that women just did whatever leadership wanted. but i found that women were more likely to listen, more likely to consider the argument and less likely to be completely ideologically inflexible. and if you looked at the count of who did my boss have to talk to on the floor? i think women were probably under representatives in a difficult member caucus. >> from a communication perspective why is it so important? i know paul ryan at the

beginning of this event i talked about that early investment i will never forget when i first ran for congress, the first member check i got when i didn't even know i was going to get it. paul ryan sent a max out check to my first little fundraiser i had that was by far the biggest donation ever received at the fundraiser. so paul has been very supportive of women's voices. you as his spokesperson, why is that important for governing? >> i think it is. everyone is shouting back and forth in the media cycle level x all the time. americans i think particularly women at home want reasonable conversation. they want to have a dialogue. they want to parker's point they want to get things done. i think when you're talking about messaging and rhetorical aspects of getting things done, having civil discourse is incredibly important. we are not just wallflowers here. we can have dialogue with one another. i think women have to dupe particularly well. not a knock on male members. i think we have hundreds of

male members. we need hundred articulate female members. i think by and large women have the ability to come into an interview, stakeout, speak on any given issue with authority but with reason. and with the ability to clearly, articulately state what we believe and what we are trying to get done. i think that message is just welcome once people are home if you just focus group your family your mom talk to your sister at home i may not be in politics? there's so much back and forth and yelling by and large discourse is needed right now. >> my final question i want to thank her for moderating she is one of the experts one of the top opportunists in the country. what are the best pieces of advice that you give to candidates? we have perspective candidates

in the audience today . >> i'm going to go with cam, do not hesitate. i think there's a lot of if one candidate wants to be asked don't wait to be asked, don't worry that you weren't the state center you were next in line or anything like that do not hesitate don't wait to be asked, go for . especially now i think we have great opportunity. i think the party, voters are so right for having more women candidates. don't hesitate . tell your own story. don't think you have to run a campaign like a guy had does. tell your own story, run your own campaign, stick to who you are. find what things you are passionate about a be passionate about them. don't be afraid if they are not what you know what you think is the issue of the day. go grab things and run with them. >> let's give this panel a big

round of applause . for any young women who are thinking about running this is a great group you can go to for advice. great resources. parker we are working with very closely, go reach out to her. thanks everybody. i know we packed in a lot at today. were going to go with our next panel. we had a lot of great speakers. for this next panel. thank you kevin mccarthy. this next panel is really important.

each of these women's organization have been on the front end of recording recruiting women to run for office and supporting them. i've had the opportunity to work with all of these organizations. moderating the panel is julie, director and government director of regulatory affairs at price waterhouse cooper. julie thanks for coming. julie conway who we all know executive director,, not julie. view stands for value in electing women pack is the first check for women who raise their hands to run . >> we have sarah maverick pack. come on up sarah. rebecca schuler executive director of winning for women packed. chair of women pack.

thank you like to thank congresswoman for inviting me here today to help moderate today's panel. this is a critical group of panelists. these are the work courses representing the organizations that are providing the infrastructure and most importantly the financial resources for those women looking to run for federal office and most importantly help them be successful in their effort. forces who represent our firm very much played by sparta suddenly want to see more women elected across the board at all levels of government. can't remember the number of today's panelists on effort to engage, elevate and elect

government women appear to want to kick off our panel by letting each of our panelist today go through and share with you each a little about the history of their organizations. let's start first with julie conway. it is so often awesome to be here today . all of us on the stage we spent so much time working passionately see so many people excited about what they are trying to do what her organizations are trying to do it is really awesome. the hope and the energy to get back on the force. i have the pleasure being the executive director, value electing women . just over 20 years old started in 1997. throughout the years we pretty much officially unofficially been the political arm of all the republican women in the house and senate. in fact is not single women currently on either side the

house or the senate. that completely supported by view pack on the get go. we did $130,000 to republican women in primary. which is a lot but not nearly the amount the democrats were able to put together. we probably would have been able to do more but we had to give $120,000 to our incumbent female republican women because of all the competitive races we have that we normally don't have. we can see the writing on the wall we knew it was going to be a battle all the way across. it we have no litmus test we want you to be the best candidate in the district for running. incredible and viable. we get totally involved. sort of serve the role being good housekeeping seal of approval. if we give you a check if you

have a chance to win in november when you get here good part of the team. we are proud to put our money behind you let everyone know that you can be safe and confident in putting your money behind these candidates. we had a great cycle in terms of the amount of money you are able to spend unfortunately the results were not where we wanted them to be, between our hard dollars to incumbents and candidates in primaries in general. leadership pack what we are able to raise directly for these candidates . we are not a conduit we are about $1.5 million. >> thank you. >> i am a sarah curran, we are thrilled to be here to support. maverick pack is a type top finance network for young conservative professionals in the country . we support conservative candidates and causes. insured we are the young donors of america.

we are started by a group of texans including ted cruz in 2005 right off the hill reelect campaign. this was an offshoot of 40 under fungal her level. george p bush was a former chair, right now we are chaired by morgan ortega. last cycle we contributed to 170,000 dollars to conservative candidates. we raise a $750,000 so while we are not we don't run as this handful candidates we get directly to campaign and of those dollars this is a lot a new donors. all young money. you would really see ourselves as a turnkey solution to activate nationwide. i'll turn to rebecca . >> thank you so much. after my fennel panelist this

is incredible group of people. really exemplifies there is a growing need in recognition of that need to support our women and support early. we are so thrilled to be part of this and work with our peers up here and the congresswomen to make this happen. winning for women a new kid on the block we launched a little over a year ago . to complement the efforts going on to support our women candidates and particularly at the early stage , something we are really very focused on this cycle. we have two major components. we are the brain trust of women you will hear from the next panel several cycles ago so that women just didn't necessarily have access to the resources that there male peers have . she come up with an idea we can really support women candidates with access to donor networks and other to make sure they have those resources at a time it is critically important to get them through those primaries and general

elections. we added two new things to the world. one thing where building out issue wide network of membership. we just hit our 320,000 member mark across the country . again really feeding into that narrative the people do care about republican women and there is energy to be harnessed is something we work every day to find out and get out there to activate them. the other thing we do, we are building up that membership also strategy campaigns. we have pretty impressive numbers with the support this year. we were able to support several policies that could help our women and our party in general. by spending about $1.2 million across the country and hopefully active areas. this is what we are focused on. we will continue to be focused on that. landed to the critical point of making sure those resources are going to women so we can see them get to that great shot at

getting to the general election . tiffany, right now women pack . >> i'm currently serving chair . i want to thank the congresswoman for organizing this event. right now we are completely volunteer organization. we are totally focused on electing qualified republican women to run for federal office. we focus really on three kind of key areas. recruitment of younger women. mainly focusing on recruitment of women under the age of 40. to building a culture political giving. making it affordable for those women in their 20s and 30s to be part of the political process. and then number three, building your own personal network. all our organization is divided , with founding members women under 40 and advisor members women under over 40. our event is a great opportunity

for mentorship between both in the party. thank you tiffany. let's turn first to julie with view pack. we heard from a number of congresswomen today that came earlier in the panels one message that resonated was view pack supported each of them when they were running for the first time and maybe even in some cases the second time . but view pack was there. can you talk julie about what securing that first check and endorsement is so critical and why is it really important? >> there is a little bit of the chicken and the egg everybody wants to support the best candidate in the primary. often you don't know who the best candidate is until a week before the primary . if you don't help the women early on they don't stand a chance. because money follows money. that's how it works. getting that first check in is critically important. like i said we don't support

all republican women not because they are not qualified or in some kinds viable but if they are in a district thank goodness they are running but we really try to put our money in candidates that, if more money follows and they will become the good candidate that we know they can be. the other thing that our check does it send a signal, we don't give a check first time we meet a candidate . we kick the tires, we talked to the issues. we want to make sure they have the network that they need to be successful. some candidates come in, this is exceptionally true for female candidates versus male candidates. susan collins used to tell a story where she was running the first time and the guy that was running against her, she would swear he would say he had foreign-policy experience because he drove a toyota.

women don't do that. women want to make sure they know the answer to every western before it is asked. they can't always take that leap of faith because you're always the one questioning. don't want to get caught up on something they might not know everything about . we give them that encouragement. also resource for women to reach out, martha makes sally ran the first time spent her entire career as an air force colonel flying into battle zones. she did know everything about financial services and wall street. so there are things understandably that she's not going to be an expert on . happily in our network we are able to provide her with him of those resources. this is how this work this is what you need to know about whatever issue it happens to be. now that we have more diverse women stepping forward to run, the expectation that they know everything about everything is telling . to build a given that support network is something

really important that we have been able to do . >> julie i think you should be commended for efforts but resources for these women candidates and women who were sitting incumbent in the house, in the senate but also if you are a business sitting here today. remember to pack in these other outside groups today you can utilize them as resources for your own decision and investment decisions, right? so now let's turn to tiffany. women pack as we mentioned to you earlier they are investing in trying to build a infrastructure of younger professionals to invest in support republican women. tell how your strategy what your doing to grow that base over the recent years. >> right now women's pack is worked very hard over the last three election cycles. to grow our organization most of our recruitment efforts have been peer to peer. most events of an event driven.

over the last three cycles we have credibility of organization was success of our candidates. we work really hard at recruiting not only women but also men to our organization. i think as we mentioned very much pride ourselves on helping qualified candidates early on in their cycle. >> thank you. and, sarah, i know your organization also, as you mentioned very focused on younger professionals and supporting and engaging this group. can you tell us a little bit about this coalition that your organization has formed, and how this is supporting that coalition? >> absolutely, so it is a young professional organization that is not to say that there is an age limit, on who wants to give

money to our pack, but, we are focused primarily on young professionals, and have a variety of collisions that we have set up to help recruit and activate young people all over the country. the most successful of that being our mavericks women's program. and so, it was started in an effort to achieve gender parity against amongst our ranks, and i'm happy to say we are totally on target to hit that this cycle. that being said, of the leadership positions that we have from the national board to our local chapters, 60% 50% of those leadership positions are made up of women or diverse individuals. and, we are, we are so proud of that, and by providing those leadership opportunities and acclimating younger women to raising money, and bundling for candidates, it really empowers them to have a seat at the table, and to have, to be in those conversations. and so, maverick pack is a

membership packet, so we have annual dues that are between 300, 500 -- $305,000, and one of the things that we do as numbers, as we nominate and vote for the candidates we want our money to go to pics of them are women that we have, as members, the more say women have and where the dollars are going. diane black did an interview recently, and i just want to talk about it. she was talking about the difficulties of raising money as a female candidate, and one of her tactics to get a check from a big dollar mail to you, was to invite the wife to the meeting. now, i see maverick women as an avenue to change that. i see the future in this scenario, played out a little bit differently. the husband, is not even asked to the meeting, because the woman is the major donor writing the check. and so, yes. >> [ applause ] >> so, with that in mind, i did

just want to lay out some of the outfits from this last cycle that were particularly interesting. so, of the candidates that contempt contributed to, 25% were women, 31% of the dollars that went out when two women candidates. why is that, well we have been talking about it a lot today, unfortunately, not a lot of, there were not enough women candidates for us to report in the general. and, we gave 31% of the money, because we did a really studious job of making sure we are invested into races that are targeted races, and it is not a surprise that democrats are always coming after female republican candidates, to knock out at the field. so, with that in mind, the message really here, is women need our help, maverick pack is been proud to support women in the past, we are going to support women candidate in the future, and with the e pack efforts that are launching today, we are excited to support even more female candidates in the cycles to come.>> thanks sarah. so, this next question, i would

like to pose to all the panelists today. you know, throughout your time working, and promoting republican women, you have probably seen a number of obstacles that these women have saved, but can you share with us, what do you see as the biggest optical obstacle sitting in front of these republican women running for election federal office? do you want to start julie, since you are -- [ laughter ] all right, we will go with rebecca, nationwide. >> i will throat out there that i think it is money, and i think it is early money. [ laughter ] i know, it is a bold one. you know, again, sort of a compliment, with them today, one of the things we are hoping that that small donna dollar donor network, or what we are building to that c4, can create a small dollar donor network, that we really see come to fruition in the next cycle. succumb to complement some of the larger dollar efforts that hopefully get our women money earlier, we to see that through that small dollar thing that the

democrats have had so much success with as well. you know, that is something that i think is incredibly important, but you know, kind of to go along with that, the resources are out there. you know, every woman sitting on this panel, you know, has an organization that can help our candidates. and while it is not enough, we clearly need more, you know, i think that also, one thing that i would ask of everyone in the room is to help get the word out that these resources are there, because it because i think it is such an incredible tough thing, and i'm so incredible proud of every woman who chooses to submit her name to this race, that it is. but we are here, we are here to help, and you know, we can ask you all to help us cannot let our candidates know that we are here, and they are going to have support, help them to get those critical resources.>> go ahead. >> well, go ahead. >> i was just going to say, this is something the democrats do a lot better than we have historically, is letting potential candidates know what

they need to do to become actual candidates. you know, a lot of people will think you know, maybe i could do that, but who i call, what do i do, like how are you supposed to know if you've never done it before? democrats are so good at that. so, rebecca and i were often the token republicans on random panels, and we were on a panel one day, and the woman from emily's list said that they had 300,000 people, women, go through their website, who were interested, not in giving, in running. >> wow! >> they had a place to go, and they went there, and they got the information they needed, obviously not all of them ran, but as they turned out, a lot of them did. and so, they knew where to go, and how to find help. and i think that is one of the things i am most excited about, was the effort, was to set up a formal place to go, and i think you were going to have it on your website, sort of a way to start.

it is, on our side, it has been word of mouth. they knew their congressman back home, or their uncle, or their mayor, you know, something, but it has been 18 bank shots against the right person, and if we eliminate those obstacles, i think we are going to be a lot more successful.>> and i will jump in here and say i think one of the biggest hurdles for women is timing. when is the right time to run? what is the right time to run, one is kind of that work-family balance, and, often times, men just kind of jumped right in. so, i think one of the things that each one of you in this audience could help us with, here on the panel, is you all know women, so pick two or three women that you think would make great leaders, that would make great elected officials, and encourage them to run. they are going to need to hear this multiple times, and it might not be this year or this cycle that they decide to run, but be a sounding board for them, and encourage them to run, because that is the confidence they need, to go ahead and make the decision, yes i want to be a candidate. and yes, i want to be a member of congress.>> great, so i will

close this out, with a comment, and then a question for all the panelists, angelique and answer the question to. so first the comment, julie conway from view pack of a very important point, we found over the course of previous cycles, that when you meet with a woman candidate, it would sort of beat word of mouth, that we would say i have heard of this great candidate that is running this particular district. and because we all know one another, we would send an email, pick up the phone, we are trying to formulate that so that there is a roadmap for female candidates who have the courage to raise their hand, step into the arena, instead of his word of mouth, informal way, of providing them these resources. we want to formalize it, so they know all of these potential resources. because, each of these organizations, can make a commitment to support that candidate with hard dollars, and those other people of individual donors who can support them. so that is a really important point julie. that was my comment. my question for the panel, is each of you have met with many many candidates. overtime. over time.

in addition to the money, what is another important metric that we should be looking for, that you have seen in successful candidates. and the reason why i am asking that so you know the context, is we are really going to try to help candidate development, help them meet those metrics, and be very transparent about it. so, do i start with you julie, on that? julie, go ahead.>> will first, i will just say that from a business perspective, which is where i come, you know, not only can you raise the money, right, which is what you did, but from a business perspective, do you know and understand the issues that my business cares about before congress, and before regulators. so that educational, information point, that is really really critical. so, you know, just like when you are running any campaign, keep it local, it is also, know who your businesses are in your district, that you would be representing if you one. so, that is critical. but just building that at work, and i think one thing that elise has done, which is really

great, she has, she has now put the member in the house, a face with a program, that is going to be so successful, in elevating, and engaging, and electing women, whereas we have a number of those groups, where many of them has been doing it for years, now elise is taking it to the next level by engaging these groups before you today, and unite it together, taking it to the next level, but also, relying on the rest of your male counterparts, in congress to help you elevate your calls, and what you are looking to do. and i think that will be critical, in seeing you be successful this cycle.>> i would highlight two points. one, i love when i candidate let love to they don't know, because sometimes well, because we are women, and to get to that point, and you think you know everything, because otherwise, you would not of made the effort to begin with. but i met with a candidate yesterday, and i asked her, you

know, straight up, she told me, a passionate reason she wanted to run, and all the rest, and i said what don't you know, what are you worried about? she said i am not a good public speaker. that is so fixable. like think that, it was not my husband served five years in prison, and her kids, are you know, like that despicable. like and these are problems that we can help you with early on, the fact that i met her yesterday, we have got 21 months until the election, you know we can help with that. and the other thing, when i meet with candidates is in dc, is explained to them they could be an absolute rock star, you're still not going to raise a lot of money out of dc. you're a candidate, you're not on the top of the list, a lot of people think dc is the magic money action. you have got to raise money home, the bigger network you have at home, the more likely you are to raise money in dc, and there are just a handful of our groups, and then you know, at least now that she is up and running, and a couple of other brave groups that will get in primaries, that the guys do not hurry up and write checks, even our female women do not do it, because there are a lot of other people who support to get to the candidate. and so, the more successful they are at home, when we need them, you know, three months out from the primary, they have got it all taken care of, and

they become the front running candidate, and so, stop coming to dc.>> similar. i want to see someone who is excited about running for office. not so much timid, but i finally did it! here i am, what do i do? i want to see the energy, but i also want to see the sobering reality of knowing how much hard work is ahead of them. it, the knowing, how can you know what you don't know? there is so much that goes into running, especially especially for a federal race, especially in today's political environment. so, someone who is open open to really sit down with a good team, and work, and work. >> i think, for women, we want to see two things, yeah, we want to see that there is a path for a person who fits that district, and friendly that can mean a lot of different things within the party, and that is something i think we as a party need to make it known to the public.

and sort of, hand in hand with that, is a certain fearlessness, it is really hard to go in and do what every woman who has jumped and has done. you know, you gotta be able to ask the tough questions, and have that sort of gumption to do it. and you know, i applaud you all.>> the answer i would like to hear from candidates, is why they want to run, why they are passionate about running. it amazes me, when right now, women's pack sits down with candidates, and they give me a list of what is on their resume, or the people that they know, but they do not give me a true answer of why they want to run, why they are passionate about running, why they want to come to capitol hill, and what kind of difference they want to make. so i think, you know, having that initial, answering that initial question yourself, and then being able to deliver that message in your elevator speech, is a great first step, that i would like to see more often. >> well, thank you to each of you who have really led the effort, and really have been at the front end of tackling this crisis.

and, supporting women candidates, understanding the value of that early dollar is the most important investment you can make. and i look forward to partnering with you, as we head into the 2020 cycle and beyond, thank you julie for moderating.>> thank you. >> [ applause ] >> we are running a little early, which i know everyone has a busy day, i appreciate you staying here, we have one pill and one keynote speaker. this next panel, is actually the panel i am most excited about. these are women who have the courage to run for office, and a very tough cycle, and we are hoping to hear from them, their lessons learned about what we can do better in future cycles. each one of these women have extraordinary personal stories, and moderating that panel is a very good friend of mine, one of my earliest supporters, and still, one of my, probably one of the most enthusiastic supporter, is annie dickerson,

so come on up annie, and he has been a friend and supporter of so many republican women candidates, and any will be very proud. this event, in two weeks, raised $250,000. so, early investments. [ laughter ] yes. our next panelist is aaron hao chin, who is a state senator from indiana, and she ran for congress in indiana's ninth district. erin, welcome! >> [ applause ] >> i am a big fan of aaron. carol miller, who is a colleague , she was a candidate, now she is a congresswoman. i am excited to have you here today carol, and we are so excited to have you as a part of the republican conference. ashley, who ran for congress in tennessee's second district, ashley is a lieutenant colonel in the united states air force and tennessee national guard. and, we can learn a lot from her experience. give her a round of applause.

>> [ applause ] >> and, tiffany shedd, who was also one of my favorite candidates this last cycle. she is an attorney and ran for congress in arizona's first strict, thank you for make the making the trip out here, erin, carol, ashley, thanks for staying later today to put his bait in this. annie, i will turn it over to you. >> awesome. well, everybody, let's get excited. [ laughter ] you know, look, let's not stretch and do editing we need to do to make sure we are awake and alert, and to really be able to congratulate elise on a magnificent day, and i love how you begin it and how your ending it. we are at a crisis, and sometimes you kind of have to go to the battle. it is sort of like you know, you need to be really, sort of laying out on the street, and not knowing, that you were there for three days. before you really know you have a problem. and, you know, sadly, it took

an election like we just had, where some of our very dear friends had to leave office. and some very new dear friends were not able to get in. so, we are going to talk about money. the dirty words. and you know, if money is the -- of politics, the question is why do y'all hate to fund raise so much, you know. it is really tough. and, i think that a lot of these candidates realized early on, just, just what a difficulty it was. what a barrier it was, to entry, to get out of primaries. and, the excellent panel we just had, with view pack, and julie, you know, and rebecca scholer, who is the executive director of the organization, i found it, running for women. which, just wanting to grow the

pool of excellent. and, the voice of women. so, today we are going to talk about, i am just going to do a show of hands really quickly. with our panelists. how many of you found that raising money was among the amongst the biggest issue of your entire campaign? okay. how many of you are out raised by your primary opponents? yeah, carol, was the one who got her primary. all right. so, i think that is sort of white it is a little bit of a predicate, for knowing how big of an issue this is for our women to get out of primaries. and, for our women, are you running against other women who are not as qualified, and against men in the primary, way

back when, in 2013, when you and i first met of, you -- male thunder, and everybody said no, by the way, we are telling elise not to get into the race, they were telling those of us who were donors, and fundraisers, a lot of us who remember, no need to get a minute, we got a really self really good itself under it will cost us less. well, that self funder would not have gotten out of the general, and we would not have this great seat. in the state region in new york. so, elise is really the model. so, i need to put my glasses on. so, we are going to begin with our latest congresswoman, carol miller, who is so excited, but what a lonely looking photograph

. >> [ laughter ] >> i mean, is that not going to see her in the memories of each and every one of us? it sets up for the few members of congress, we had prior to this, to be in a sea of blue suits, and in every photograph, and every agenda, and every time the microphone, so many of the male candidates, and so few of our women, you know, rogers, famously poking her head out, and sam here to. these progress have been pretty icky for a lot of years, and carol you are the latest member, and we are so glad to have you there, but it has got to be a little lonely. and, you, in your going to the general, you had act blue. act blue is just doing enormous destruction.

they are able to raise a lot of money, and quickly. have a big database, all they have to do is press buttons. did not even have to do the hard work of going out, with every one of their candidates. they -- were raising $37 million in one month. and, we had act blue against you, and the chance that you beat them in the general, who by the way, the losing candidate in the general is running for president, he thinks. you know, how bizarre is that. but, how about this mountain sea of money, that climbs out of nowhere, and how hard it was, to go from a state delegate, and the kind of money you need to raise for a state and local rate, how is it now to run for federal office? >> well, it is. i spent 12 years in the legislature, and my husband used to tease me, because i would send out a letter, and all this money would just come

to the house. and he said, you are not even having to make phone calls. and i said well, i always raised enough to win. running for federal office is entirely different. and i can remember, in the summer, my opponent raised in one month, what you would raise in a good quarter. it is very difficult for women to remove himself from the fund raising as a personal thing. it is easy to raise money for the pta, the museum, or for the symphony, or for a project, for children. it is very easy to call someone up, and say we need this money for that. it is a whole different story, when you're calling someone up, and saying, will you give me money for my campaign? and you have to make that step beyond it. and it is very hard for women, because we do that have emotional component and into

who we are, and we cannot think otherwise. but, it is more at a business type of venture. you have to understand, that you will get people who put you off, and you will get people that give you less then they gave the mail, and my situation, in my former congressman, if i called someone, that he had received 2004, i might get 1000. and so, i had to work twice as hard to raise the same amount of money. and it is just a fact, and you have a list of people and names, and you call, andy call, and to call. and you know, people do not like to be rejected, it is like making a cold call as a salesperson. but, if you have the fire in your belly, and you know why you are going, and what you're trying to do, you can go, make

it over that hurdle. does that help a little? >> yeah. a lot of it, may not realize, carol and her husband are also vice and the farmers. and, one, her motto was i am running to take the bull out of politics. i love that. and, a real quick question, is did you [ laughter ] or, are you? >> i think i need some awaiting boots. [ laughter ] >> that is great, let's go to your, erin, you were also in office, you were a state senator, and kind of -- did not realize better, she had elegies with her state senate district. a 26 year democrat incumbent. that is amazing thing to do, and that is it. and, you were running on the todd young open seat, and he left to go to the senate.

so, tell us about how was it on your end, you know, when you are running, you are raising money locally. no, you are sort of having to open up your race more statewide. end, hoping against hope, maybe somebody will notice me nationally. tell us how it was? >> it was a very eye-opening journey, i really appreciate them, carol's comments, because i felt the same way, but it cannot quite put words to it in terms of, it is very easy to ask for money for causes, then, when you are making those fundraising calls, and you are asking for your own campaign, it is a very awkward thing. i think particularly for women to do, i am speaking for my own personal experience, but when i ran for the state senate, and i want to make the point, that i know we have heard a lot today, about helping women in primaries.

i did raise the most money out of both candidates in my primary, for my state senate, which gave me the opportunity then, to challenge the 26 year incumbent. but i was running against someone who was in the senate primary, retired, and self funding. and, i had to quit my job, to run for the state senate. and, i went with to the powers that be if you will, and i made this argument, that if you want to see the demographics of the republican party change, you have to support women in primaries. the answer i got, was go see if the women will help you. which, i did. which i did, and they did. had lots of women support in terms of dollars, from statewide elected officials, from their endorsements, from opening doors for me, and that was a big, it was a big deal, to have that support. and, i managed to say --

managed to save the funds necessary to raise the money and recommend going to in the general election. fast-forward to the congressional campaign, i felt like it was dij@ vu all over again. i was the only woman in a four- way primary, and fundraising was difficult. you make the call, lots and lots and lots of calls, and you find that you get, you know, maybe not as much money as a counterpart, in those asks. i got to the point, where i had raised more money than todd young reese for his primary, and i thought, my goodness, i might have a shot at this, and i ran against the self thunder, who i had raised $517,000, and he self funded to 293 and half million. so, i am not going, that is just not going to work. if i had early money, if i had early support, that i may have

been able to make up that difference, in terms of the hard work that i put in, in terms of the name idea that i had as a member of the general assembly. but, i cannot stress enough, the importance of having that early early money, and supporting women in the primary. that, i think is where we are going to make a really big difference, at pass off to a -- elise, my favorite, favorite thing that i have seen on twitter recently, is i did not ask permission. right. [ laughter ] and, i love that, thank you for standing up and saying, that is okay, we do not have to ask permission. i really, really love that. and, that gives me, that gives me some hope. but, it is hard when you're running for state senate, in indiana, there were not limits, and when you have limits, then you can get that 2700 dollars at a time, that is very difficult. and, it is a huge challenge. it can be overcome though, for women, if we support each other in primaries, and we have that early early help.

>> you know, i love that you referenced that. that you know, our candidates and elise, who have certainly done that, you just got to take charge. you got to earn your faith, and saying i am not asking for permission, you know, that was a game changer, right. and, it was like doing a little nikki haley, you know. i do not get confused. you know, it is like, you know, it is right, you're straight, we are not asking for permission, period, you know! >> [ applause ] >> i am glad that you referenced that, let's go over to tiffany. so, tiffany, you were running in arizona one, and a lot of people do not realize that district, and they do not realize what you used to do, she would take cotton -- she was a cotton and wheat farmer, like wow, all right, and lawyer, and mom, and, and, and,

we all get it. tell us, a little bit, what it is like, because we really do not talk about this enough. we were running into when you are running in an urban district, or a suburban district, there is not a lot of access, to donors, we know who they are. you go rule, and it is a new ballgame. tell us about it. >> it absolutely is. i was very honored to have more, in district donors than out of district, something to the tune of about 80%. but, i also ran in the largest rural district in the united states, just not an entire state like wyoming. and, you know, i had so many people behind me, it is a poor district, it is rural, and so, we had to break into you know,

dc money, phoenix money, out-of- state money, and kind of get into what we called in our campaign, those echo chambers. and, hard dollars early, made a lot of difference, and my hard dollars came from my community. people that it never voted in the primary, people that registered to vote, because i was running. people that had never written a check for some of them wrote max checks. with that being said, it was such an expensive race, and then, when i came to dc, and i met with the nic see, and they make sure you're not nuts, and you have to go through, and meet people, but i have to say, you know, elise was the first to reach out. and, i was walking down the street, in dc, and i thought it was a telemarketer, with the new york cell phone comes across, and she says, i am here to help you. and, our district are similar, and they are, they are border states, it is a lot, she just has more snow. [ laughter ] but, anyway, and i have to say, the people that took the chance early, were the women's groups. it was winning for women,

julie, conley, and view pack, she does not just give you a check, she beats the buses -- bushes for you. know, the women, most of the women, congress and the time, had written checks of their own packs and whatnot, and that was great. but, because i did not have a political background, i had been an attorney, i had written water policy, i farm, i had quite a bit in my own hometown, but, to get the name id in time for primary, takes a lot of hard dollars early, and it really is true. almost break into little groups of donors, where if one person write you a check and get 10. but, you have to, there is just such a hurdle, and you have to prove that you are, you have to work twice as hard to prove you are qualified for the office. you know, i have things said like, you know what you know about legislation and the law, well, the only one running with a jv. you know, that is kind of what

we do. or, you know, who is going to take care of your children, and i am thinking, their father? i do not know. blake, the things that you do not get asked, you know, i was running against a male candidate with five kids under the age of nine, oh, he is a great dad but what are you doing with your children? and, they are fine, the children survived, but, i think that you know, what we call donors, and you know, phoenix is our big metropolitan area, and they would say, well i am supporting a candidate in my district, you're not going to be my congresswoman, and i would have to say no, i'm going to be everyone's congresswoman. and you know, get over that hurdle, the lot would just not donate or put fundraisers on, because i was doing with my district, but my district was so big, so spread out, so diverse, and frankly, poor. and, i do not think we want a situation, where poor districts do not get representation. so, anyway. i cannot say enough for the

women here, and elise, thank you so much for just being bold. be bold. >> you know, you raised a really important point that i want to bring up with everybody, and i am going to go over to you ashley, first, on it. and, to the democrats have such a different culture and standard, for their women, then the gop? and by that, i mean something that you went to earlier. a lot of you, in quiet, in private, will all kind of chat with each other. how many of you, just by a show of hands, and then we will get into it, how many by a show of hands, have been asked by men or women, in the gop, constituent type, that have said welcome what about your kids, and they are young, and okay, right. and, it -- right. and, look, the democrats are

not running into that as much. and, they have cut a lot of noise, with others, they just do not put up with it. i mean, they shut that stuff down like pronto, right. so, we have got them really good, but you know, better, but we have found our voice, and we have found some really good leadership, and elise, and others that are in here. and, it is really incumbent upon us, not just women, but men, to find their voice. i would love ashley, i mean, look, you got into here late, because you had a deployment. you know, serving your country. so, you are not only serving your country, but you have young kids. so, you caused this cultural disruption, where some of your constituencies with their brains out, people serving in -- you are qualified, competent, you have kids, you really ought to be staying at home.

so. >> [ laughter ] >> i mean, so you kind of blew the brains off of you know, some you know, generational generalization concerned gop members, talk about that. >> one of the things, in fact, i met annie the first day, of orders back to my department, and so, that was really neat experience, and, thank you elise. i am just going to say it, bad. she just stepped out there. >> [ applause ] >> unafraid, like, also alone and unafraid. and thank you for also being alone and unafraid. if we look at, and it has been noted before, by different panels, democratic women, who are running, often times get the democrats vote, because of their gender. okay, republican women look at a candidate, and they want to see a qualified candidate.

i think that is first and foremost. it does not, a woman running does not draw the same women votes on the republican side. so, we really have to address, i believe making sure, that we have very qualified candidates. also, for women. i was in a race of seven, so i was running against six men. i made sure in my messaging, that i was saying, i am the most qualified candidate. i'm not running as the woman. but, as we moved forward, just, real quick, i am the only female pilot in my squadron. when i first got into my squadron, my calls and, because we give each other you know, call stands, they're kind of stupid, my callsign was quoted as. okay. >> [ laughter ] >> okay, it has since been changed, but i am still the quota, right. and it does not matter if i greased on every lending during

a deployment, that one landing i made, that was bad, that is what you are remembered for as a woman. the guys can make crappy landings all day long, but that is not up. so, we really have to make sure that we are putting forward extremely close i candidates also. but, yeah. and, i would like to add, and i am sure all of these women understand, i am much nicer to telemarketers now, because of all the phone calls i had to make. so, but, you know, we have got a long road, and you have got, you cannot be 10 times better. you have got to be 100 times better. just so you can prove yourself. because, when i first introduced myself, it was, oh, hey little honey, it is nice that you joined the race, what do you do, and when you said, i was military combat aviator, that is when they said no, okay. so, you are qualified as a woman. so, that whole qualification issue, whereas a man can just say i am running, okay dude, you know, great.

we do not get that same courtesy. so, you have got to be ready to stand out there, get your message, no you're life, you have to be passionate about your why, and be unafraid. >> julie, i cannot help but laugh about the story, a man running in a race, saying i drove a toyota, i am a foreign policy expert. and a woman going, gee, i only have a phd and served in the army, and raised four kids successfully, and blah, blah, blah, am i really ready? you know, so you know. i think, it is incumbent on all of us, in pushing women out of their comfort zone. and carol, we want to hear more about you, and, it is such a wonderful success story, because, we now want the 2020 class women, of coming, to emulate you, and i did want to ask a question to the group before we have you sort of wrap it up.

do we have a little bit, of not just a woman problem in the suburbs, but do we have like a women donor problem? if you look at the numbers from this last election cycle, i do not know if you all noticed those, but the democratic women candidates, received from democratic women donors 159 million dollars. all right? okay. okay? emily's list, field hit 71 women, raised $110 million for them, and one with 34. that was a heck of a year for them. okay, but 159 million of that money, going towards the women candidates, was from there women. our women, okay, on our side, republican women, gave republican women candidates only

19 million. and, they gave more to men. which means, that, they are writing checks, and they are writing it to a lot of men, and not to as many women. so, we really have our work cut out for us, so it told it out to the group, and cheryl, i want to begin with you. you know, lessons that you have learned, and how do we start squeezing a little bit more money out of the women there, because we know there are a lot of republican women donors.>> that is kind of a difficult question. a lot of it depends upon the women that you know. and, if you know professional women, their pocketbook will be a little bit larger, and you have to concentrate on them, you know. i am in a little bit different position, i waited until i

raised my children, before running for office. so, a lot of my friends are in the position, of thinking about retirement, and that is a whole different kettle of fish, because they are out of town a lot. and, so, you have fundraisers, i had laura trump come in, karen pence came in, and we concentrated on women in the last month, which was very good. and, they were very excited to know, that they were coming to town, and they were very glad to come to the luncheon. so, i think the most important thing, is that, you have the fire in your belly. for what you want to do. and, you have to communicate that, to both men and women. i never tried to keyhole myself, because, having run for office, you know, for 12 years,

i already had an established name. and, that was very helpful. but, that was only in one and half counties, and now, i was running in 18 counties. so, i looked at it, that i needed to make new good friends, and the other 16 counties, so that they knew they had a genuine candidate, who was familiar with the issues, but i also, kind of used my values as a woman, and my values in raising my family as part of who i am, so that they really understood who they were going to vote for. and, i worked really hard meeting people, because i think that is the most important part. and, when you run for public office, you are also exposing your entire family, to all

kinds of criticism. so, that is why, i talk about the fire in the belly. it has got to really mean a lot to you if you're going to run for office. and as women, you need to be very aware of those women who are willing to step forward, because if you are strong enough, like elise, who you know, this is what i'm going to do, and it is very important to me. when you sell that message, other women will notice. but, i do not think it is a one size fits all. you know, women, we multitask all the time. when you are talking about raising your children, i would feel like i had at least seven plates up in the air, so it was not difficult for me, to do this job for a while, and then do this job for a while. you had the kids, he packed a lunch, you are doing the laundry, if you went to the job, i managed apartments. i took care of buffalo, you know. >> [ laughter ] >> if i can wrestle with

buffalo, and sometimes, it is really kind of interesting. [ laughter ] you have to have the strength to put your message forward, and make the ask. but, at the end of the day, this is our country. and, most americans feel so strongly, and if you let them know that you want to be the one that will represent them, and how much you care about making the country better, and better, because there is always going to be something wrong. i mean, we are all people. and so, there is always going to be something you do not like. but, if you are willing to try to make it better, and to get that message across, people will be naturally attracted to you. does that answer you at all? >> absolutely. and i saw, every woman in here, nodding their head, as you said, chuckling, 7 to 10 to million at once.>> you do. you do.

>> i wanted to ask a final question to our candidates who had the courage to raise their hand to run. but, despite the fact that i believed they were some of the most qualified candidates we had on the ballot, came up short. and i am asking this question, because we do have perspective candidate in the audience who attended today. many of home i have spoken with, who are going to run. what do you wish, what did you wish, sorry, let me think about how to ask this, what advice did you get first, and what do you wish you knew then, when he first decided to run that you know now? erin, can i start with you? so, advice first, and what you wish you when you first realized now? >> if i could, just quickly, before i answer that, i want to make one point about your question that you just asked, and that was, are we doing a good job of engaging women donors? i want to think elise, susan brooks, and, i hate to make a

list of people, because i'm going to lead people off, jackie, and wagner, martha i could name many many female members of congress, that came out of the woodwork to help me. view pack, right now, women's pack, main street women, the aoa, they were, or, aoa, yes. aoa network. winning for women. all of these groups came out of the woodwork to support me. i had about 32% of my donors, were women. and, i made calls to men, for these, and this is the convocation i think, that we do not touch on. but, i made calls to men for money, and they would say, you need to talk to my wife. now, i do not know, i do not know if they are saying that question, you know, if a male candidate calls them, and they say, well she has got the checkbook, you're going have to talk to my wife. i did have that. but, at this moment, you cannot

be afraid to go ahead and make that second call. you have to do it. and, you know they did not always donate. and no, today is not necessarily a note tomorrow. so, i wanted to make that point, that we do not often talk about, that you know, female candidates have a double challenge, we have to work harder, we have to, you know, maybe not make as much of the act, and then again, there is maybe another out. lessons, or advice. >> advice. >> advice, reach out to every, every person that you can think of, that can help support a campaign financially, and do not be afraid to make the ask. i cannot, i cannot empathize enough, emphasize enough, the importance of having, early dollars, and i think, you know, the sooner the better, in terms of getting on that, on your

fundraising plan. i mean, that is very important, and again, i cannot think the ladies that supported me enough for that. >> and the second my question, i will try to ask it in a more articulate way, what do you wish you knew at the first congressional candidate? >> what do i wish i knew -- i think, i learned a lot, about the image, that we have, as a female candidate. and so, i think, if i had to, i wish i knew. i did not learn some of these things, about voters, particularly gop, women voters until after the campaign gets going. and so, i think i wish i had a better knowledge of how those decisions are being made, and i am pointing at kristin anderson, and polling data, and etc. i think that would've been very helpful to me, lessons learned, things that i wish i knew, it

is just, how particularly gop women are making that decision, and, how my candidacy, in particular, might speak to that. >> great, ashley. what advice would you give, to prospective candidates for congress, and then the second question, something. >> so, for me personally, what i learned the most from my campaign, is you have got to know your wife, and believe in your wife. if you do not have a good why, you should not be running, you have got a really believe in it, and run and it. and that, when you are moving forward, even if you lose, you will not regret it. because, you lived your why, and that is okay in the end. so many people fail, but they fail because they tried. so, do you want to stay there, and continue to wallow in, i could have done this, i should have done this? no, live your

why, okay, and never regret it. i wish i had had more time. my deployment, you know, cut into it, but that is okay. god gave me a certain amount of time, and we did the best we could with it. so, be ready for the bumps but it is okay if you know your why , okay. and can have a good game plan, and have your time. and, sometimes, drinking a beer, before you start making those fundraising calls does help. >> [ laughter ] >> i am just saying! >> tiffany shedd, close it out. >> you know, what i wish i had known, is that, it really does, and a lot of ways come back down to money, hard money early. and, i have a lot of money with trouble with money making fundraising calls, and a good friend of mine, who actually maxed, she said hang up and call me again, i do not like the way you asked. she said, she said you asked

like you are begging. you are going to be a great congresswoman, and we are getting a good deal by giving you money. hang up, and call me back, and say that. [ laughter ] and then, you know, as you go through, and you get better at it, my goal, in the money raising calls, was to get to know. because, instead of backing off, you're like well, you know, maybe, at least i am going to get to know, but hopefully i get a yes, and get some money, but i'm not leaving you alone, until you're just like no, quit calling me crazy lady. so that helped, and i think the other thing, if i was going to give advice, and it kind of runs along that, is be bold. you know, once you start to run, and you have got, you have got staff, you've got people, and every kind of handling you, telling you what to do, you know, i wish i had been more bold. i never, i mean, i was, but i would have been a little bit more, less diplomatic, let me

just put it that way. and, i would've been more bold about pushing out my qualifications, and not being well, let's just let our actions speak for our words, because the men do not do that. and, i would have been more bold, when i thought you know, something was worth being bold for, instead of putting it in a peace maker way of putting it. i would have just been more bold. and i think, as women, a lot of times we are trained to smooth things out, and to be the peacemaker. so, sometimes that is bootable, being a woman, running for office, but sometimes, we need to just be bad, and kick some butt. so, for those of you running, be your self, know your wife, have a glass of wine before you make your call, i learned that from a congresswoman, who i will not out, she is still a congresswoman.

and, you know do your best. and you know, at the end of the day, you will not regret it, because, you will make so many new friends, you will learn so much, and even though i lost, i am in a platform, that i still am working for the people i care about, the issues i care about, in rural arizona, because that was my wife, to those people did not have a voice in this podium, that you get, win or lose, gives them a voice through you. well,>> this is a panel of women who deserves a huge round of applause, because they actually ran for congress, put their name on the ballot, and that takes courage. >> [ applause ] >> so, thank you everyone, thank you annie, for moderating. thank you to all of you who traveled in from out of town. appreciate it. we are transitioning to our final speaker, who will be the keynote speaker this evening. i am very very excited to introduce this amazing amazing young woman, who, ran for

congress, in a district that really, only came online late in the election cycle. so, one of the missions of each pack, is to elevate our women candidates by telling their extraordinary personal stories, and sharing their amazing background, with the public. and, i believe firmly, that it should not just be democratic women who are covered extensively in the media, and in glossy women's magazines, we have to make sure republican women are represented and featured as well. so, our keynote speaker was one of the many women similar to those on this panel, who bravely raised her hand, and stepped into the arena and 2018. and, we have talked a lot today about how some candidates need to be asked, or need convincing to run for office. i have found, that some of the best candidates are those that self recruit, and have the fire in the belly, and the determination to take that risk, and run for office. elizabeth hang is one of those candidates that self recruited,

and came to me. she did not need convincing to run, and she had the courage and conviction, not only to opt apply to run for congress, but she ran a great companion. campaign. sheet ran interesting congressional district, where she surprised all the prognosticators with how close she came in her campaign against democrat incumbent jim costa. you need to remember in california, primary day is not like new york. primary day in california is top two, regardless of party, and she came within six point of this powerful democratic incumbent, in that primary. she brought this sleeper race online, as we headed into the general election. i chose her to speak today, not just because of her great campaign, but because of her extraordinary personal story, which i want you to watch with her, introductory video, that went viral. so, cue the ad. >> in cambodia, under cold hot,

rich, being young and single often meant a gruesome life, and likely, death. they have pushed my father, and in order to save his life, he said he was about to be married. we asked him, to who? he pointed to the prettiest girl that he saw, having never spoken to her before. the soldiers approached her, and she said yes. they got married, the very next day. 41 years later, they are still the happiest couple i know. great things can come from great adversity. home, that america's booming economy, never made it to our district. -- buildings, homeless depths

for people, our congressional district is one of the very poorest in america. for 14 years, we have and represented in congress by a nice man, jim costa. but still, little has changed. look around. this is what we can still expect to see, 14 years from now. unless you plan for a better future. >> when we were young, my mother picked up coins off the floor at the mall, to buy us a happy new when we did well in school. they worked long long hours at the local grocery store they still run. all that they made, they saved for our education. >> elizabeth is the hardest working student i have had in my 33 year teaching career, and she is the first certified -- high school graduate, to earn

her way to stanford university. >> studying at stanford was not enough. elizabeth was also elected student body president. next, came an nba mba from yale, she spent time on the staff of respected congressman royce and -- learning why most of the time in dc, nothing happens. nothing. we have given jim costa 14 years to bring us a better life. has it worked? in those same 14 years, elizabeth hang excelled in high school, graduated stanford, was elected student body president there, got her mba mba from yale, learn what is wrong with dc, helped her brother start a very successful business, then turned her attention toward making our lives better. same 14 years, which person is most likely to improve our future? >> i am 33, i have the energy

and drive to bring us a better future. not just talk about it, do it. break the law down, and restore our water infrastructure, reform immigration, the right way. vastly improve our education system, so more of us can go to school. everyone told me, that i would never go to stanford, or yale, or work for congress. just like they tell you, that our home, and our cities will never get better. everyone was wrong. great things can come from great adversity. i am elizabeth hang, and i approve this message.

>> so, i am very proud to introduce the 33-year-old daughter of cambodian refugees, former hill staffer, accomplished entrepreneur, and congressional candidate, in our keynote, elizabeth hang.>> [ applause ]applause ] >> hello there, everybody, i am so excited to be here, thank you so much for congressman, for having me here today, i remember vividly, the day i decided to run for congress. it was january 20 2018 one year ago. i was watching cspan, as the clock struck midnight and the government shutdown again. i did find it kind of fitting that i am here again today. and as that moment as a former health staffer i knew personally this was all for campaign votes, fundraising, jockeying, and, winning over the media. and frankly? i was disgusted.

six months prior to that, i was sick and tired of the political bickering, the finger-pointing, that was going on in washington dc, i was tired of watching my generation future be mortgaged, tired of complaining about the future of the country and watching the core principles crumble before my very eyes. at that very moment, i knew i could not just stand around on the sidelines any more. and, i needed to stop making excuses. because, what was i waiting for? was i looking for another degree, did i need more experience? did i need more private sector experience? so, i decided that night, twofold papers and launch my campaign for congress. that was honestly, the hardest part of the entire race for me. getting myself emotionally

ready to say, i am doing this. then, the fun began. i quickly learned who my friends are, who my friends are not, you know, the media, random people very pointed to everything that was wrong with me, that it did not realize was wrong with me. ranging from the color blast that i wore that was the wrong color, too, you know, people questioning the intelligence or morality, because i was a republican. on the campaign, there is so many phone calls to be made on fundraisers to be planned and i still had to knock on at least 50 doors a day to make sure that people knew who i was. and that i really understood the issues impacting the community. i went on national news circuits, because the ad that you just saw was banned by facebook at one point and

censored. so, i had to work on that also and in between doing all of this i needed to make sure that i slept, i ate and i was still taking care of myself. and i have to give it to you, congresswoman, that was i was a hill staffer and when i was working on the campaign, i thought, i can do this, i now give you guys so much more respect than i ever did, you know, when i was here and it is here because you are putting everything on the line. i am so proud of the race that we ran, by the end we had the best ads and an incredible team. raising $1.2 million in eight months, and, put this race on the map, i cannot stress enough, for those of you that want to run, how important it is to build the right team in the beginning. the least amount of money and get fundraising commitments to write checks, earlier rather than later because as a first- time candidate, you know, and i

have always been very conservative with money. in august when you are planning for what you need to finish off the rest of your campaign, and you realize that you need to raise half of $1 million in september in order to get there so you can place your ad buys it is terrifying. you're actually going to be able to do that. we fortunately were able to do that, so much better to do it earlier rather than later. when i decide to run for office again one day, the intentional planning with the right team is critical to getting a campaign. the best shot at winning. and, going up against an incumbent is not easy, but it is possible and i believe it is necessary. my opponent had been venting the district locally and federally for 40 years. to give you an idea that is since when jimmy carter was still president. when i looked around it was depressing. and, people were not dreaming

anymore. there is something fundamentally un-american about that. something un-american about that statement and i am not okay just watching the status quo. running for congress, i truly learned, how much of a bubble i was living in when i was in washington dc. growing up i did not realize that having helicopters fly over my house with shirts -- searchlights twice a week should not be normal. nothing has changed. i believe and i still believe that we can do better. i did not understand the power of my voice until i decided to speak up. we need new ideas to shape our country's future. i believe that women will lead that future when half of the country is republican and 25% of the country are republican women, it boggles my mind that

we only have 13 women representing us, in congress. and i am thankful we have a congresswoman kicking up the lead in that effort and i believe that we are at this crisis. and there is a saying in washington dc if you are not at the table you are on the menu. i am not interested in being an option for other people to pick and choose my future. or, any of your futures. so, this election motivated me more than ever, and i will do whatever it takes, to build a pipeline for women, young people, our future, to be successful in politics. so that more of us can take a seat at the table. so, i want to thank you congressman, for taking the lead in addressing this issue. coming to dc as a candidate it is not easy and i know how the circuit works. you were the first elected

female, to have taken interest into my race, and, provided me guidance, and, support, when it seemed as if the entire world was against me. so, i want to thank you for being an example of the future. we need more women leaders. to deliver our message, wanting a more free and prosperous country. where, the government's role is to make our lives easier. not harder. we need our core values, providing people with the best shot at accomplishing their american dream, through opportunity. and, i am going to fight for our country's future. so that one day, little girls, around the country, can have plenty of role models, like elise here, and, dream, saying, i am going to run this country

one day. what i want to end with is, i hope that all of you here in this room, and, watching, that you join me and continue to support congresswoman's to phonics effort, making sure that little girls one day are going to have enough role models to run the world one day, thank you. >> [ applause ] >> thank you elizabeth we are so proud of you and your story it is extraordinary, thank you for making the trip from california. thank you to everyone for attending today's event i know that it was a lot of panels with a lot of great speakers, but as i said, your help helped us exceed our goal our initial goal was $100,000, we successfully raised $250,000. thank you again, to santos, david and jennifer for hosting thank you to the panelists, and i also want to name all the members that supported this because it is both men and

women numbers, susan brooks, 10 -- tom emmer, kevin mccarthy, rogers, mark twain mullen, martha roby, steve scalise, and wagner, greg walden, and jackie -- thank you to everyone, we look forward to staying in touch as we develop the program and announce the slate of 2020 republican female candidates. thank you.>> [ applause ] >> -- coming up and eight, -- next, mississippi governor phil

bryant, and, west virginia governor jim justice you're watching cspan 3. arizona's republican governor doug ducey got a second term in last november last week in his annual state of the state address talking about efforts to reduce spending and regulations, calling for approval of a drought plan for the colorado river. this is 40 minutes. >> [ applause ] >> members of the legislature, the honorable douglas a ducey, governor of the state of arizona. >> [ applause ]