EMILY's List doubled membership since Boehner became Speaker

By Josh Lederman - 02/02/12 03:30 PM ET

EMILY's List has doubled its membership since John Boehner (R-Ohio) took over as House Speaker, the organization’s president said Thursday.

Stephanie Schriock said her group, a political action committee that supports female Democrats who favor abortion rights, has topped 1 million members in its quest to put an unprecedented number of women into office in 2012.

And it’s on track to raise more money this cycle than in any previous cycle, Schriock noted, although she wouldn’t give an exact figure. The group raised almost $39 million in the last cycle.

"When women vote, Democrats win," she told reporters. "It's not just that their views are better or worse. They're just different, and we need that."

Coming off a Tuesday victory in a special House race in Oregon, where EMILY's List-backed Democrat Suzanne Bonamici delivered a double-digit defeat to her GOP opponent, the PAC said it has endorsed 11 Senate and 17 House candidates for 2012, with more on the way.

The map of races where EMILY's List is getting involved closely mirrors the map of states that handed a victory to President Obama in 2008: the West Coast, Midwestern states surrounding Illinois, Florida, Hawaii and a few Northeastern states.

The list includes five Senate races in states that have never elected a woman to the Senate. But in one of those states — Hawaii — Republicans have their own female candidate in former Gov. Linda Lingle. That means the glass ceiling will be broken even if Lingle defeats Rep. Mazie Hirono, the EMILY's List-backed front-runner in the Democratic primary.

Asked by The Hill why the group would pick a fight with Lingle, a centrist Republican woman who has supported abortion rights in the past, Schriock said those factors weren't enough.

"Our mission is to support pro-choice, Democratic women, and it is three of three for a reason," she said.

In another Senate race in Connecticut, the group has backed former Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz (D), putting it at odds with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which has thrown its support behind Rep. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).

"Connecticut voters are going to vote for a Democrat against [GOP front-runner] Linda McMahon in November, and EMILY's List is going to do everything we can to make sure that Democrat is Susan Bysiewicz," Schriock said.

The group unveiled a video montage Thursday of big-name Democrats declaring their support for the group, including former President Clinton, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

The PAC also released the results of a poll it commissioned in Oregon on Tuesday, the day Bonamici was elected, showing that female voters list the economy, protecting entitlements and tax fairness as their top three election issues.

Almost 80 percent of those who supported Bonamici said her Republican rival's opposition to abortion rights was a factor in their decision.

— This story was updated at 3:06 p.m.