Calls to repeal the 19th Amendment, which since 1920 has barred the federal government and the states from denying the vote on account of sex, are being driven today by a small network of Christian nationalist pastors — most prominently Doug Wilson, Dale Partridge, and Joel Webbon — along with a handful of figures connected to the Trump administration who have amplified their views. There is no legislation, no state campaign, and no organized lobbying effort behind the idea. The constitutional path to repeal is nearly closed by design, but the rhetoric has moved close enough to power to draw sustained attention.
What Repeal Would Actually Require
Under Article V, the only way to undo a constitutional amendment is to ratify another one repealing it. A repeal amendment must first be proposed by a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate or by a constitutional convention called by two-thirds of state legislatures, and then ratified by three-fourths of the states — currently 38 of 50.1National Archives. Constitutional Amendment Process
That has happened exactly once. The 18th Amendment establishing Prohibition was repealed by the 21st in 1933. Of roughly 11,700 amendment proposals introduced in Congress since the founding, only 27 have been ratified, and only that one has ever been repealed.2National Constitution Center. What Does It Take to Repeal a Constitutional Amendment
Any effort to invalidate the 19th Amendment in court would also run into settled precedent. In Leser v. Garnett, 258 U.S. 130 (1922), a group of Maryland men argued the amendment was unconstitutional because it added voters without state consent. Justice Brandeis, writing for a unanimous Supreme Court, rejected the challenge, holding that the amendment was “in character and phraseology precisely similar to the Fifteenth,” which had been “valid beyond question” for half a century.3Justia. Leser v. Garnett, 258 U.S. 130 The Court also held that the Secretary of State’s certification of ratification is “conclusive upon the courts.”4FindLaw. Leser v. Garnett, 258 U.S. 130
The Pastors Leading the Current Push
The most organized contemporary advocacy for ending women’s suffrage comes from a group of pastors associated with Christian nationalism and what adherents call “biblical patriarchy.” Their argument is theological before it is partisan: they contend that scripture assigns authority to male heads of households, and that individual women voting undermines that hierarchy.
Doug Wilson
Doug Wilson, a 72-year-old pastor based in Moscow, Idaho, is the most prominent figure in this space. He co-founded the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), a network of roughly 170 congregations across North America, Europe, Asia, and South America.5Religion News Service. Christ Church at 50: How Doug Wilson Pushed Christian Nationalism to the Center Wilson has said publicly that the 19th Amendment “was a bad idea” and advocates for a system in which only male heads of households vote on behalf of their families.6Ms. Magazine. Pete Hegseth, Women’s Right to Vote, and the 19th Amendment He frames individual voting as the product of a “lie of individualism” that damages families.7Baptist News Global. Yes, There Is a Movement to Take Away Women’s Right to Vote In 2024 and 2025 he appeared on podcasts hosted by Tucker Carlson and Charlie Kirk, addressed the National Conservatism Conference, and launched a church in Washington, D.C.
Dale Partridge
Dale Partridge, 40, a pastor at King’s Way Church in Prescott, Arizona, has become the most vocal advocate for an active repeal campaign. In a February 2026 Instagram post, he declared: “We will repeal the 19th Amendment within 10 years.” On X, he wrote that he wanted repeal because he loves “America and American women and want[s] to protect our nation from their suicidal empathy.”7Baptist News Global. Yes, There Is a Movement to Take Away Women’s Right to Vote He has drawn explicit parallels to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, expressing hope for a Supreme Court case that could achieve a similar result for women’s suffrage.8People for the American Way. Dale Partridge Seeks Repeal of 19th Amendment in Next Decade
Partridge announced a forthcoming book, 19 Reasons to Repeal the 19th Amendment, to be published through the NXR imprint run by Joel Webbon. As of March 2026, the book had not yet been published. Calvin Robinson, another pastor publishing through the same imprint, appeared with Partridge to promote the project. Both men described their agenda on the broadcast as “good Christian sexism.”8People for the American Way. Dale Partridge Seeks Repeal of 19th Amendment in Next Decade
Joel Webbon and Adjacent Figures
Webbon, president of Right Response Ministries, has said “the 19th Amendment was a bad idea” and characterized women as “easily deceived,” framing suffrage as an instance where “Eve needs to be rescued from the Serpent.” His ministry partners with Wilson on lectures, videos, and events. Canon Press author Bnonn Tennant, in Wilson’s broader orbit, has called women’s suffrage “rebellion” against God on the grounds that “voting is an act of rulership.”9Baptist News Global. Why These Christian Men Believe Women Shouldn’t Have the Right to Vote
Trump Administration Figures Who Have Amplified the Idea
What moved the issue from fringe pulpits into national headlines in 2025 was the involvement of several administration officials and nominees.
On August 7, 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reposted to X a video of Doug Wilson making the case against women’s voting rights. He captioned the post with the CREC motto, “All of Christ for All of Life.” The Pentagon did not distance Hegseth from Wilson’s views. Chief spokesperson Sean Parnell confirmed that Hegseth is “a proud member of a church affiliated with the Congregation of Reformed Evangelical Churches” and “very much appreciates many of Mr. Wilson’s writings and teachings.”10The 19th. Pete Hegseth, Doug Wilson, and Women Voting
The repost drew bipartisan reaction. Senator Tammy Duckworth called Hegseth “the least qualified secretary of defense in our nation’s history” and demanded his resignation. Representative Maggie Goodlander called him “unfit to serve in any position of public trust.” Representative Teresa Leger Fernández, chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, demanded that Hegseth “denounce this message and affirm your commitment to upholding the 19th Amendment.”11U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander. Female Vets in Congress Slam Hegseth’s Repost of Christian Nationalist
Other Trump-connected figures have their own record on the question. Paul Ingrassia, nominated to lead the Office of Special Counsel, endorsed the idea during a 2023 podcast, responding “she’s very based” when a host said his wife believed women should not vote.12Minnesota Reformer. Who’s Questioning Women’s Right to Vote? John Gibbs, who served in Trump’s Department of Housing and Urban Development and won the 2022 Republican primary in Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District, had founded a “think tank” at Stanford called the Society for the Critique of Feminism, whose website argued that women lacked the “characteristics necessary to govern” and that the country had “suffered” from women’s suffrage. Gibbs also praised and linked to the Father’s Manifesto, which maintained a petition to repeal the 19th Amendment.13CNN. John Gibbs Women’s Suffrage 19th Amendment His 2022 campaign denied he opposed women’s right to vote.14The Detroit News. John Gibbs Argued Against Women’s Suffrage
Anti-abortion activist Abby Johnson, who spoke at the 2020 Republican National Convention, has advocated for “head-of-household” voting: “In a Godly household, the husband would get the final say.” The Trump campaign distanced itself from that position at the time, saying “President Trump strongly supports the sacred principle of one person, one vote.”15The 19th. RNC to Feature Speaker Supporting Policies Barring Women From Voting
Ann Coulter’s Earlier Provocations
Before the current network of pastors gained visibility, conservative commentator Ann Coulter had been the most prominent public figure to question women’s suffrage. In a 2007 interview with the New York Observer, she said: “If we took away women’s right to vote, we’d never have to worry about another Democrat president. It’s kind of a pipe dream, it’s a personal fantasy of mine.” At a 2021 Missouri State University event, she argued that “women see the government as their husbands” and that women’s suffrage leads to runaway government spending.16News-Leader. Ann Coulter Says Women Shouldn’t Have Right to Vote In a December 2023 Substack post, she wrote: “Once again, it is time to reconsider our rash experiment with women’s suffrage.”17Newsweek. Ann Coulter Reconsiders Women’s Right to Vote
Coulter’s comments were generally treated as provocation rather than a policy agenda. The current pastoral movement is different in character: rooted in theology and organized around institutions.
The Voting Gap That Fuels the Rhetoric
The statistical backdrop to this discourse is straightforward. In every presidential election since 1980, a larger share of women than men has voted for the Democratic candidate, with the gap ranging from four to twelve percentage points.18Center for American Women and Politics. Gender Gaps in Vote Choice and Party Identification Since 1992, women have consistently been more likely than men to identify as Democrats.19Pew Research Center. A Closer Look at the Gender Gap in Presidential Voting In 2024, a majority of women voted for Democrat Kamala Harris while a majority of men voted for Republican Donald Trump. Women also turn out at higher rates: in 2020, women made up nearly 55% of the electorate.20Brookings Institution. How Gender Gaps Could Tip the Presidential Race in 2024
How Fringe Is the Movement
According to the Public Religion Research Institute, about 10% of Americans qualify as adherents of Christian nationalism, agreeing with all five statements in PRRI’s measurement battery, which includes beliefs that the U.S. should be declared a Christian nation and that God has called Christians to exercise dominion over all areas of society. Another 20% are classified as sympathizers. Among Republicans, the combined figure is 53%; among Democrats, 16%.21PRRI. PRRI 2024 American Values Atlas: Christian Nationalism These percentages have remained stable since late 2022.22PRRI. PRRI 2023 American Values Atlas: Christian Nationalism
Identifying with Christian nationalism broadly is not the same as supporting repeal of the 19th Amendment. No major polling has measured public support for that specific idea, and the anti-suffrage position is held by a small subset even within Christian nationalist circles. As of mid-2026, according to Baptist News Global, advocates like Partridge have not “done any of the work required to generate support for repealing” the amendment. No legislative proposals. No lobbying infrastructure. No state-level campaigns.7Baptist News Global. Yes, There Is a Movement to Take Away Women’s Right to Vote What they have is an audience, a publishing pipeline, and sympathetic ears in senior government positions, which is why the rhetoric draws more scrutiny than its practical feasibility would otherwise warrant.