Nothing could be further from the truth. Stefanik is an unusually canny and precocious politician. She served in the George W. Bush administration in her early 20s and stayed on in Washington to work for Republican campaigns and conservative organizations. She went home to upstate New York in 2013 and prepared to challenge incumbent Democratic Rep. Bill Owens. Owens decided not to run again, and Stefanik swept to victory by 21 points in a district that President Barack Obama had won by 6 percentage points just two years earlier. At a mere 30 years of age, Stefanik was then the youngest woman ever elected to the House. That background is key to grasping why Stefanik could be a boon for the House GOP. If elevated, she would be not only the only woman in Republican leadership, but also the only Republican leader to represent a seat that Obama carried. Every other member of leadership represents a safe, conservative seat — four of them from the South. Their constituents are largely the old GOP party base: religious, fiscally conservative and normally hawkish on foreign policy. Stefanik alone would bring views formed by persuading moderate, former Democrats to cast ballots for her. That’s key to holding the 15 seats Obama carried in 2012 that Republicans currently hold as well as gaining similar seats now held by Democrats. Both Obama-Trump and Romney-Clinton voters are significantly more moderate than the type of Republican who dominates safe GOP seats. A 2017 analysis found that these voters were closer to Democrats than Romney-Trump voters on questions such as economic inequality and government intervention in the economy.