Republican players are low, but camaraderie is high ahead of Congressional Softball Game

By Kathryn Lyons

Posted May 16, 2019 at 3:28pm

The official list of players in this year’s Congressional Women’s Softball Game is OUT! (to be read in an umpire’s voice) and we have just over a month before members of Congress and the D.C. press corps face each other on the field again.

The members team, which is historically composed of a bipartisan bunch of female lawmakers, has seen a decreasing number of Republican players over the years, one of them being last year’s MVP, former Rep. Mia Love. This year Sens. Joni Ernst and Shelley Moore Capito, Res. Cmmsr. Jenniffer González-Colón and Rep. Martha Roby make up less than a third of the team.

Democratic Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (one of the game’s OG organizers), Norma J. Torres, Kathy Castor, Cheri Bustos and Nanette Barragán, plus Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Kirsten Gillibrand (who’s eyeing a spot in the White House), return to the field alongside their Republican teammates and rookie Reps. Sharice Davids, Deb Haaland, Katie Hill, Chrissy Houlahan, Kim Schrier and Donna E. Shalala.

The women might come from different sides of the aisle, but their goal is the same: defeat the “Bad News Babes” and end their three years of total domination.

“We congressional women are in a league of our own, and I’m proud to continue keeping this tradition of bipartisanship, camaraderie, and friendly competition alive for a great cause,” said Capito, who’s also a team captain.

The game, in its 11th year, will take place at Watkins Recreation Center on June 19, and benefits the Young Survival Coalition, which supports young women with breast cancer.