With the political winds at their backs, GOPers have experienced a recruiting boost of late. But party strategists acknowledge that the GOP remains woefully underrepresented among women.

"It's the women that we've been missing in the past," says RNC co-chair Jan Larimer. "We're not going to miss them anymore." (Emphasis added)

Larimer has spearheaded the party's efforts to recruit and train more women candidates. And based on the GOP's efforts this year, the party needs the help.

Among the NRCC's Young Guns program, just 4 of 41 candidates in one of the top 2 tiers are women. The NRSC has done a little better, quietly favoring women candidates in CO, CA and NH. Now, party officials are on the case.

"We're working with the women in Congress ... to empower the women in their states to get involved and to participate," Larimer told Hotline OnCall in an interview at the party's annual Winter meeting in Honolulu.

"Women sometimes need a little more handholding, or they need their friends to help them make a decision. And by our going in and talking to them and recruiting and educating and training them to either get involved in a campaign or become a candidate, we're giving them the tools so that they can do that on their own," Larimer added. (Emphasis added)

The RNC has held 2 workshops for women so far, and the party is producing training manuals aimed at enticing women candidates into more contests.

Weekly NRCC recruiting meetings, led by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), include Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), who has spearheaded efforts to get more women to run. Indeed, a former aide to McMorris Rodgers, state Rep. Jaime Herrera (R), is a promising contender in the race to replace retiring Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA).

But Herrera is not yet a member of the Young Guns program. Neither is Elizabeth Emken (R), the former head of government relations for Autism Speaks and a contender against Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA). Both Herrera and Emken face competitive primaries.

So far, only Montgomery City Councilmember Martha Roby (R) has made the "Contenders" tier of Young Guns -- the highest tier to which any candidate has been named. IL state Rep. Beth Coulson, running in a competitive primary for Rep. Mark Kirk's (R-IL) seat; ex-state Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R), running against Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO); and physician Nan Hayworth (R), challenging Rep. John Hall (D-NY), are all listed in the lower "On The Radar" tier.