Today’s Woman in the Lens showcases Maria Sheffield who is running for Congress in Georgia. Palladian View does not endorse in contested primaries, but Mrs. Sheffield is a conservative young professional that embodies the principle of “Building leaders of tomorrow by empowering women today.” Maria Sheffield is a grassroots, bottom-up style leader who understands branding, messaging and social media very well.
Maria Sheffield is a small business owner and a life-long resident of Georgia who is a tri-athlete and a certified master scuba diver. She has completed one full marathon and two half-marathons.
Her political bug started in high school, and she has attended almost every district and state Republican convention since then. She is the only candidate in her race that has been active in the grassroots of the Republican Party for several years.
I was able to spend a few minutes with Maria Sheffield recently. Maria is actually in the demographic of Palladian View’s newest initiative—Her New View, for young, conservative Republican professional women (aged 21-39), to help them navigate the complicated waters of conservative women in politics. Maria and I discussed some of these issues, especially as it relates to two main areas of an event Palladian View will host in Tampa this August.
Question: Palladian View will be hosting a panel entitled “Lashing Back at the Backlash.” Have you felt that backlash as a young conservative Republican woman candidate?
Answer: Yes! But my backlash has not come so much from the media as from other people. You have to learn to deal with yourself as a candidate as it relates to other people. Questions like how you will take care of your family, or what about children—things they would never ask men. I am an attorney with a small firm. I have signed both sides of the paycheck, and I understand what it takes to run a small business. I understand how regulatory relief is crucial for farmers and other small businesses in my district. With my family background, I understand the need for real health care reform. Obamacare is not the answer, but reform is necessary, and I want to lead the fight for conservative reforms to this issue.
I will say that people have come to respect me, but you do have to earn it. One sense I get walking through my district is that people want someone in Congress who will actually do what they say they will do. I think they are finally getting the idea that if you continue to elect the same type of people to Washington, you won’t get a different result. What I tell them is there is a big difference between “casting a vote” and “leading on the issue,” and I am a leader!
Question: Have you found it difficult, particularly as a younger woman to raise funds for your campaign?
Answer: There are many things that have made fundraising difficult, but not impossible, for me. Our district is a poor district that has been hit extremely hard with the down-turned economy. We have some of the highest unemployment in the country. But those things also make a candidate spend wisely and remember the value of a dollar—something constituents can trust me to remember when elected and representing them.
What I have learned is that women and men contribute to political campaigns differently. If a woman writes a $20 check, it really is a big deal—you will have her support, her vote, and the vote of every person she knows because for $20, she is going to tell the world about you. However, women don’t typically write the $2,500 checks that are so desperately needed to fund a campaign; men and businesses do. As a young professional woman, I think I can help change that mindset. I would strongly urge other young conservative Republican women to get in the habit of supporting other conservative women candidates financially with the biggest check you can write.
Palladian View is pleased to spotlight this conservative Republican woman leader who represents the next generation of conservative Republican women and proves every day that true conservatism and grassroots efforts still work.
