Two women made history on Election Day with three big firsts – but because they were Republicans, the media barely mentioned them.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders became the first woman elected governor of Arkansas, while Leslie Rutledge became the first woman elected as the state’s lieutenant governor. They’re also first in another important way: It’s the first time two women were independently elected to be governor and lieutenant governor of any U.S. state.
Not even the liberal bastion of California has pulled that off, having never elected a female governor.
Here's something the liberal media WON'T (and haven't) told you about the midterms — Arkansas's @SarahHuckabee Sanders and @LeslieRutledge will be the first independently elected female governor and lieutenant governor in U.S. history.
DISGRACEFUL this never came up! pic.twitter.com/JAzZhBEBF8
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 15, 2022
“If it had been two Democrat women who had made history on election night, we would all know about it,” the conservative Red State website noted. “The establishment media would have endless ‘breaking news’ reports about it.”
But there were virtually no reports about it at all – and it’s almost certainly because the women have three strikes against them.
First, they’re in Arkansas – part of what the coastal elites that run the media consider “flyover country.” They’ll cover the state to criticize it, or when there’s a natural disaster… and that’s about it.
Second, both women are Republicans, and the media almost never celebrates GOP firsts.
And third, they’re both closely linked to former President Donald Trump.
Huckabee Sanders was Trump’s press secretary for nearly two years, and wasn’t afraid to take the gloves off in her dealings with the media. At one point, she revoked the press credentials of CNN’s Jim Acosta, accusing him of being aggressive with a White House intern over a microphone when his turn to speak was over.
“It will be the honor of a lifetime to serve as Arkansas’ 47th governor and the first female governor the state of Arkansas has ever had,” Sanders said after her election in comments largely covered only by local media.
Rutledge not only endorsed Trump, but spoke on his behalf at the Republican National Convention in 2016 and served as national co-chair of “Lawyers for Trump” during his 2020 reelection bid.
I’m on the biggest boat on the biggest lake for the biggest Trump parade in the entire state of Arkansas. God bless Arkansas and God bless the United States of America. Let’s #KeepAmericaGreatAgain pic.twitter.com/JsiXvbwlfh
— Leslie Rutledge (@LeslieRutledge) September 5, 2020
It’s not just Huckabee Sanders and Rutledge getting the short end of the stick from the liberal media.
Republican candidates made history around the country – including victories for the “identity politics” that are usually so important to the left.
Alabama, for example, had never elected a woman to the U.S. Senate before (two were appointed to the position for short periods of time). That changed this month when voters chose Katie Britt to replace outgoing Republican Sen. Richard Shelby.
Oklahoma elected its first Native American in nearly a century, with voters choosing Republican Markwayne Mullin to replace retiring Sen. Jim Inhofe (R). Mullin will also be only the second Native American to serve in the Senate since 1929.
New York featured the first-ever House race between two openly LGBTQ candidates, with Republican George Santos winning.
Yet, like Huckabee Sanders and Rutledge, they were given little to no attention from the national press – and no glowing media profiles.
At least one person on the left did take a moment to acknowledge the historic nature of the results in Arkansas.
“Sarah’s election has shown women, including my little girls, that being a woman is no longer a barrier to becoming governor in our state,” Dr. Chris Jones, the Democrat who lost the gubernatorial race to Huckabee Sanders, said in his concession statement.
Ironically, that concession seems to have received more coverage than the history-making moment itself – proving that the left-leaning media will always find a way to highlight their favored candidates… even when they lose.
— Walter W. Murray is a reporter for The Horn News. He is an outspoken conservative and a survival expert.