Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington, said Republican support for ratifying the ERA represents an attempt to regain suburban voters and those who left the party after the election of Donald Trump.

“With the loss of more than one dozen seats in the House and continuing losses in statewide elections, a growing number of Republicans are worried their party is out of step,” Farnsworth said. “One year ago, they tried to be more appealing by supporting Medicaid. The ERA is part of that and it’s also very popular.”