EMILYs List Statement on Robert Regan’s Horrifying Comment About Rape

For Immediate Release
March 7, 2022

EMILYs List Statement on Robert Regan’s Horrifying Comment About Rape

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sarah Curmi, Vice President of State and Local Campaigns at EMILYs List, released the following statement in response to Republican nominee for Michigan’s 74th State House seat, Robert Regan, joking about rape, saying, “as I tell my three daughters – If rape is inevitable, you should just lie back and enjoy it.”

“Making light of sexual assault in such a flippant way is completely unacceptable and insulting to survivors everywhere. We are appalled that someone trying to win the votes of the people of West Michigan would show such a clear lack of character. If that is how Regan talks to his own daughters, I would hate to imagine the views he holds of all women and the issues that most directly impact us. It is critical that come election day, Michiganders reject this kind of behavior and vote for the  woman who will represent them with dignity, honor and respect – Carol Glanville. At a time when abortion access and reproductive freedom are being increasingly attacked across the country, we cannot afford to let misogynists make the decisions that will impact our futures.” 

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $700 million to elect Democratic pro-choice women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running nearly $50 million in independent expenditures in the last cycle alone, and turning out women voters and voters of color to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country's first woman as vice president, 159 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and more than 1,300 women to state and local office. More than 40% of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. After the 2016 election, more than 60,000 women reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state, and national offices. In our effort to elect more women in offices across the country, we have created our Run to Win program, expanded our training program, including a Training Center online, and trained thousands of women.