Is an educated woman welcome in her own party?

Educated suburban women — once a solidly Republican demographic — have been shifting their support to the Democratic Party. While this fact has been well known to political consultants for at least a year, Tuesday’s election results demonstrate that, at least in Harris County, no one was listening. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that women with college degrees split 62 percent Democratic versus 33 percent Republican — nearly 2 to 1. Educated women are leaving the Republican Party because Republicans are driving us away. Is it any wonder that Republicans lost nearly every race in Harris County?

I’ve identified as a Republican since Ronald Reagan freed the Iran hostages in 1981. I was the vice president of the Harvard Law School Republicans. I served as special counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee under then-Sen. Jeff Sessions. I was vice chair of the Harris County Republican Party. I am on the board of the Kingwood Tea Party. I have hosted fundraisers at my home for countless Republican candidates, including Sens. Mike Lee, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton. And I ran (unsuccessfully) for state representative in the Republican primary last March. I am about as Republican as it gets.

However, since 2016, Republican messaging on the national level has resonated with me less and less. As an educated woman, I have felt increasingly disenfranchised by messaging that plays to my fears about things and people who are different — such as “California values” like “dyed hair and tofu,” as one candidate put it. But I’m dating a startup executive from California. I dye my hair, and I eat vegan sometimes. I enjoy travel and meeting different kinds of people. I like having a diverse group of friends, and some of them decorate themselves with tattoos and body jewelry. I am a volunteer at the Burning Man festival, and I’ve seen pretty much everything. I want to be a part of a Republican Party that embraces diversity.

I want to balance the country’s budget the same way I balance the budget in my own home. On the national level, I hear much more from Republicans about whether NFL athletes have the right to protest where they see injustice in this country (they do!) than about how we need to reduce government spending. Since 2012, our debt has exceeded 100 percent of our gross domestic product. That means that we owe more than the value of everything all of us produce in the entire country in a year.

Ten years ago, the debt-to-GDP ratio was only 67.7 percent. The only countries with a higher debt-to-GDP ratio as of December 2017 were Japan, Singapore and Italy. If this were my household, or my small business, no bank would lend me money.

Yet our elected officials just keep agreeing to raise the debt ceiling.

I care about creating a sound economy in this country. Yes, I’m glad to see the stock market go up. Yes, I like to see job creation. Yes, I like to see tax cuts. But, I also care about the civility of the world I live in.

I want women who are brave enough to talk about sexual assault to be fairly treated. I want the government to treat my gay friends the same as my straight friends. I want my kids to be safe when they go to school. I want to keep criminals out of our country, but I want to share the American dream with people who want to work hard and build a better life like my ancestors did. I want my friends with long-term, chronic illnesses to have affordable medical care. I want to empower people in our community to succeed who haven’t started life with the same advantages that I had.

I want leaders who care about integrity, civility, and solving problems efficiently and effectively.

Is anyone with me?