Sheila Kuehl
When Kuehl was elected as a Democrat to the California Assembly in 1994 a Republican majority was seated for the first time in 20 years. This was due largely as an out-flowing of the enthusiasm stoked up by Newt Gingrich's strategy supporting Republicans for the Federal Legislature. Kuehl recalled "The Republican majority was quite a different kind of Republican, not a moderate, not a Rockefeller Republican. They were primarily Bible-thumpers and very right-wing. So it was not the most welcoming Republican group, though they loved Zelda Gilroy, and it was very difficult for them because they already liked me so much…. And to their surprise, we all got along very well. ...The Republicans were pretty horrible about LGBT stuff. They all virtually said stuff like, 'Well, they're all spawn of the devil, oh, but not you, Sheila….'"
Tanya Melich
Tanya Melich is one of the founders of the modern women's political movement. She was born in Moab, Utah on April 23, 1936 and co-founded the National Women's Political Caucus and was an early leader of the National Women's Education Fund, which focused on educating women in gaining political power. Melich attended every Republican National Convention from 1952 through 1996 except 1984. Melich served on the staffs of Nelson Rockefeller, Jacob Javits, Charles Goodell, and John Lindsay. In 1998, she left the Republican Party over women's issues. She coined the phrase, "Republican war against women." She now considers herself a Jeffords independent in the mold of the former U.S. Senator from Vermont.