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Elise Stefanik is fighting to make history in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains, an expanse of rural America in upstate New York that like the Republican Party is struggling to grow.

Just 10 weeks after her 30th birthday, the Republican congressional hopeful is poised to become the youngest woman of either party ever elected to Congress. She must first overcome a well-funded Democratic opponent, skeptical voters and barriers from within the GOP that long have limited opportunities for women despite the Republican establishment's push to highlight diversity among its ranks.

Stefanik, an aide in George W. Bush's White House, hopes to join a House Republican majority currently comprising just 19 women and 214 men. Democrats have three times the number of women serving in the House, and four times as many in the Senate, and enjoy a perennial advantage with female voters nationwide that Republicans are desperate to erase.

"It's not news to anyone that Republicans have struggled to reach out to voters in my specific demographic: young women who are professional, not married that was one of President Obama's most enthusiastic most voting blocs," Stefanik, who worked to defeat Obama as a member of Mitt Romney's campaign, said during a recent tour of small businesses along Old Forge's bustling main drag. "There is an appetite in this district for a new type of Republican."

The party's "women problem" was well-documented in the Republican National Committee's 2012 postelection report. It helped spawn a program instituted by House Republicans last summer, Project Grow, that includes renewed focus on recruitment, training and fundraising for promising female candidates nationwide. Stefanik is among the program's beneficiaries, who are spread across the country.

It is a long-term effort, GOP officials say, and one that is critical to the party's future.

"The job of the party committees is to recruit the best candidates possible, and this cycle we have an outstanding field of women candidates running across the country," says Andrea Bozek, spokeswoman for the National Republican Campaign Committee, which leads Project Grow.

Project Grow has been slow to produce results, however. The number of Republican women set to appear on the ballot in House races this fall is roughly the same as in prior elections, according to Debbie Walsh, the director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Republicans had 47 Republican women on the ballot in 2010 and 2012 elections, down from a high of 53 female candidates in 2004; there will be at least 51 this November after Tuesday's primaries.

"There's a lot attention on women in general in this election," Walsh said. "But it's a trajectory that appears to be moving in the wrong direction."

There are few opportunities for Republican women in part because there are so few congressional seats in play every two years. Redistricting has given GOP incumbents a stronger grip on the vast majority of their 234 seats, and Republican leaders aren't willing to encourage promising female candidates to challenge incumbents.

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Republican Women Face Uphill Fight This Fall

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington (CNN) -- The gay Oregon man who helped overturn the state's decade-old ban on same-sex marriage is featured in a campaign ad for a Republican Senate candidate -- and he now finds himself on the receiving end of some criticism from LGBT activists.

Ben West and his husband, Paul Rummell, became high-profile figures in Oregon's gay rights community this year when they challenged the state's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage and won.

Now West is backing Monica Wehby, the Republican nominee and same-sex marriage supporter who's challenging Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democratic incumbent with a long record of fighting for LGBT rights.

It wasn't too big of a surprise that Wehby is unveiling her support for same-sex marriage.

"This is Oregon. This is not Texas," Republican strategist Ford O'Connell said, referring to the state's liberal tendencies. "I don't see a political risk."

It was, however, a big step for West and his husband to lend their names to Wehby's campaign.

While many of West's friends and acquaintances have been respectful and even happy with his decision, he said, some have been "shocked." His Facebook page shows a sampling of the disagreements. Some simply can't fathom electing a Republican, while others say they have a hard time buying Wehby's position.

"Where was she earlier this year when we were 'fighting the fight'?" one person wrote, referring to the legal challenge against the state's law. "But now that it's over and she doesn't want to be on the 'wrong side of history', she is supportive, or says that she is."

Still, others are dismayed that West would not support Merkley, a senator that one person described as "a point of pride for Oregon."

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Oregon Republican Senate hopeful supports same-sex marriage

The reclamation project that is the Republican Party has long been stunted by onepesky fact: People freaking hate the Republican Party.

Well, kind of.

Poll after poll shows President Obama is unpopular (54 percent disapproval in new WaPo-ABC poll) and the Democratic Party is a little more unpopular (61 percent). Neither, though, can touch the GOP, whose congressional contingent has a whopping 72 percent disapproval rating. Nearly half of Americans -- 47 percent -- say they "strongly" disapprove of the GOP.

And despite it all, the GOP appears primed to win six seats and take back the Senate -- if not more. The reason: Party approval ratings are ... well ... overrated.

Yes, the GOP's brand definitely hurts it.But when voters head to the polls, are they really thinking about the practical impact of sending another Republican to empower the other Republicans whoare already in Washington?

As it turns out, not really. The same WaPo-ABC poll shows strikingly few people are scared off by the idea of a GOP-controlled Senate. While 72 percent of Americans disapprove of the GOP, just 25 percent say it would be a "bad thing" if the GOP controlled the Senate. Significantly more (32 percent) say it would be a "good thing," while half (51 percent) say it would make no difference.

Independents say 28-19 that a GOP majority would be good thing more than a bad thing. Even among Democrats, just 48 percent say a GOP-controlled Senate would be a bad thing.

In addition, it's always important to note that the GOP brand is worse than the Democratic brandin large partbecause of members of their own party. While 63 percent of Democrats approve of their party's congressional members, just 34 percent of Republicans say the same. Amongindependents and members of the opposite party, it's almost exactly even. And those other Republicans, we'll bet you, will still vote GOP in 2014.So, again, the practical effect of the GOP's poorer brand is probably more negligible than people think.

And it's too bad for Democrats, because opposition to aGOP Senate is a very good motivator. Among those who say they support Democrats and also say that a GOP Senate would be a bad thing, 78 percent say they are absolutely certain to vote. Among Democratic supporters who don't fear a GOP Senate, that number drops to 58 percent.

The GOP certainly has its problems, but in a lot of ways, disgust with the GOP is like disgust with Congress. While people hate Congress, they are much more likely to hold a favorable view of their own member of it. And if a Republican candidate can run a good campaign and avoid being too closely associated with the less-savory elements of his or her national party, that "R" next to his or her name isn't really much of a burden.

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The Fix: People hate the Republican Party. But they really dont.

By Jeremy Diamond, CNN

updated 5:52 PM EDT, Tue September 9, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington (CNN) -- The latest video ad from the Republican Senate campaign arm accuses Michelle Nunn, the Democratic Senate candidate in Georgia, of supporting amnesty.

Seems like the usual in hyper-partisan Washington, right? But in attacking the Democratic candidate, the ad also lumps in more than a dozen Republicans, including a rising GOP star who might run for president in 2016.

"Michelle Nunn proudly supports Obama's amnesty plan for illegal immigrants" flashes across the screen during the 30-second spot.

But the ad cites a Politico story in which Nunn expressed her support for a Senate immigration bill that passed with the support of 14 Republicans, who were led by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, who is widely viewed as a potential 2016 presidential candidate.

It wouldn't be the first time conservatives have painted Rubio's support for immigration reform as pro-amnesty, but the National Republican Senatorial Committee ad is an attack on Republican supporters of immigration reform from the establishment.

So, the GOP ad raises the question, does Marco Rubio also "proudly [support] Obama's amnesty plan for illegal immigrants"?

First Lady hits campaign trail for Nunn

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Republican ad slams Democrat ... and 14 GOP senators?

While the Republican Party is poised to make major gains in red states in the battle for the U.S. Senate, the situation is flipped in governors races, where Republicans are facing a tough time defending chief executives who won office in blue states in the Obama backlash of 2010.

The toughest races for Republicans are in Maine and Pennsylvania, followed by Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan, where incumbents who won in the tea party wave four years ago are struggling.

PHOTOS: 2014 Midterms: Vulnerable Democrats

Its the opposite case for the Senate, where Democrats who rode to victory on President Obamas coattails in 2008 are facing growing fatigue with his agenda.

Analysts said voters might be primed for corrections in both cases.

The gubernatorial and Senate contests are cyclical and are being conducted on different turf, said Kyle Kondik, of the University of Virginias Center for Politics. The gubernatorial races are mostly contested every four years during midterms, which means the last time these races were up was in 2010, a great Republican year. It stands to reason that four years later the Republicans might be a bit overextended.

There are 36 governorships up for grabs in the Nov. 3 elections, and Republicans are defending 22 of them.

PHOTOS: Republican governors in blue states vulnerable in 2014 midterm elections

Independent handicappers generally agree that 16 races are competitive, and more than half of them are in states that Mr. Obama carried in the 2008 and 2012 elections.

Of those, Govs. Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania, Paul LePage of Maine, Rick Scott of Florida, Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Rick Snyder of Michigan are considered vulnerable.

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Republican governors in blue states vulnerable in 2014 midterm elections