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Suburban and college-educated white women, once reliable Republican voters, have fled the party in droves since Mr. Trumps election. According to the Brookings Institution, white college educated women increased their vote for Democrats by 13 points between 2016 and 2018. Among women, only white evangelicals remain firmly committed to the G.O.P. and Mr. Trump.

The alienation of female voters from the Republican Party is compounded by the indifference, at best, of Republican men to female candidates.

Together, these two trends have decimated the ranks of Republican women officeholders.

The partys veer to the right over the 2010s has placed nearly all Republican women with political ambition in a precarious position. Not surprisingly, in this environment, Republican women are reluctant to step up as candidates. This is a rational decision, some political science research shows. Other studies suggest that G.O.P. voters perceive women to be more moderate than men and are therefore less likely to vote for women. Small wonder that Representative Susan Brooks, the head of the Republicans House recruitment efforts for the next election cycle, will herself not seek re-election in 2020.

To survive, most Republican women have tethered themselves to President Trump. Senator Susan Collins, a onetime moderate with a bipartisan record, provided the deciding vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. She will face Maine voters in 2020 as the nations second-most-unpopular senator. Ms. Stefanik emerged in the Intelligence Committees impeachment inquiry as one of Mr. Trumps most outspoken defenders. Mr. Trump took notice, tweeting, A new Republican Star is born.

Yet not all female Republican politicians have thrown in their lot with the president. Senator Lisa Murkowski opposed Kavanaughs confirmation and is the only G.O.P. senator thus far to have broken ranks over the process for the Senates impeachment trial.

In the House, at least six Republican congresswomen have maintained some distance from the president. Well aware of how Mr. Trumps demands for loyalty have endangered their colleagues, they have tended to lie low, neither publicly embracing nor criticizing Mr. Trump, while consistently voting in line with his positions.

Several of these Republican congresswomen represent suburban areas. A few Ann Wagner of Missouri, Jackie Walorski of Indiana and Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington restarted the G.O.P. suburban caucus in November. In an effort to appeal to working suburban women, they focus on issues like paid maternity leave and the cost of child care.

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Republican Women Are in Crisis - The New York Times