LegiStorm

Even as Republicans struggle to draw women voters, GOP lawmakers at least as often as not assign women's issues to male staffers in the office.

Meanwhile, more than 70 percent of Democratic staff covering women's issues are women.

These figures come from a review of LegiStorm's staffer issue tracking. Legislative assistants on the Hill, as well as other staffers who handle issues, are on the front lines for members of Congress on the topics they cover. LegiStorm tracks legislative issues for every office and the numbers constantly change as staffers come and go from offices.

In the House overall, 67 percent of staffers from both parties assigned to "women's issues" are women. Of 205 Democratic staffers currently assigned to the issue, 169 are women, or about 82 percent of the total.

For Republican House offices, 238 staffers cover "women's issues" and 127, or 53 percent, are women.

Senate staffers who cover "women's issues" are also majority female, with 66 out of 109 or 61 percent. The divide between the parties is about 20 points, with 32 of 46 Democratic staffers who are women and 32 of 61 Republican staffers.

When it comes to abortion, which LegiStorm tracks as its own issue, some offices often internally classify it under the health or social issue umbrellas. In both chambers, more Republican men cover the issue.

In the House, 60 percent of staffers on abortion are women or 253 out of 424. But Republican offices currently assign 122 men to the topic, versus 113 women. In Democratic offices, 74 percent of the staffers are women, or 140 out of 189.

The Senate gender split on the abortion issue is also about 60 percent women, but 46 percent of Republican staffers covering abortion are women, or 26 out of 57. 

Overall, women represent 41 percent of legislative assistants in the House and 44 percent in the Senate. 

The new communications director in Rep. Earl Blumenauer's (D-Ore.) office is new to the Hill but familiar with working in political public relations.

Nicole L'Esperance registered under the Foreign Agent Registration Act in 2013 while working for The Fratelli Group as a consultant for the government of Colombia. She left for the Hill this month after five years as client manager at the communications agency.

For Colombia, the new communications director wrote she would coordinate interviews, write press releases and develop overall media strategies in the registration. L'Esperance, who is from Greenville, North Carolina, earned a bachelor's in journalism and mass communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2009. 

The director of external affairs for the Congressional Black Caucus has taken a job with the same title in the private sector.

Kwame Canty switched this month to the Edison Electric Institute, an electric company association, after more than eight years on the Hill in several offices. He was the only CBC staffer in the 113th Congress who continued into the 114th.

Canty, who started with the CBC in early 2014, has also held positions with Rep. Ed Towns (D-N.Y.), the Clerk of the House and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He was legislative assistant for Towns from 2011 to 2013 before taking a job with the CBC.

The Brooklyn, New York native graduated with a bachelor's from Hampton University in 2003. His new employer registers to lobby on a range of energy issues.

A policy analyst for the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Health Subcommittee has taken a position in the health influence business.

Hannah Green started this month as associate government relations manager for the American Heart Association following two years on the Hill. She started with the committee as a staff assistant in 2013.

Green also interned with the committee, in 2011, after working as a government relations intern at the American Public Health Association in 2011. She came to the Hill after graduating in 2013 from Smith College with a bachelor's in government.

The American Heart Association spends hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying each year. It has lobbied on a variety of issues including access to cardiovascular care, tobacco and health education.

A senior policy adviser for Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.) has left for a government relations job at the American Public Power Association.

Cory Toth has worked on the Hill or for campaigns since graduating from Davis and Elkins College in 2006, beginning in Rep. Bob Latta's (R-Ohio) office as a staff assistant in 2007. He started this month as director of government relations at the association.

Toth moved to McKinley's office in 2011 and has worked there for the last four years until switching to the private sector.

The association works in public policy on behalf of community-owned electric utilities across the country and has long registered to lobby. So far in 2015, H Street Capitol Strategies LLC has filed to lobby for the association on tax-exemption, Clean Air Act and cybersecurity issues.