Newsmax Exclusive: The 25 Influential Women of the GOP

Who are America's most influential Republican women? Newsmax magazine has the answer.

Newsmax looked at leading women in politics, the media, and other fields to compile a list of the 25 most influential Republican women for the August issue's cover story "The GOP 25."

Leading off is Kelly Ayotte, the senator from New Hampshire who is an emerging force in Congress. Ayotte won by a landslide in 2010 even though New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's group Mayors Against Illegal Guns spent nearly $2 million in attack ads against her.

No. 2 on the list is former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Although she is not currently in office, Palin still holds sway with evangelical women, and her endorsements in GOP primaries reflect an ability to back winning candidates. A single Palin tweet can still shake up the political landscape.

Another political heavyweight among the 25 is Washington state Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers. As chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, she holds the No. 4 position in the House leadership hierarchy and is one of the most powerful GOP women on Capitol Hill.

Media figures on the list include author and commentator Peggy Noonan, whose Wall Street Journal columns consistently provide an informed, intelligent defense of conservative ideals.

Another commentator on the list is Laura Ingraham, author and permanent guest host on the highest-rated cable news talk program, "The O'Reilly Factor." Ingraham also is arguably the most successful woman in the male-dominated arena of political talk radio.

Among the political consultants in the 25 is Mary Matalin, who helped run George H.W. Bush's campaign and served as an adviser to President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Business leaders on the list include Meg Whitman, president and CEO of Hewlett-Packard and a former candidate for governor in California. Many observers believe it is only a matter of time before Whitman is asked to put together a winning team at some level in Washington.

Other women in the GOP 25, in addition to those mentioned, are New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez; Sen. Susan Collins of Maine; former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; political-law attorney Cleta Mitchell; Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; former Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao; South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley; Tennessee Rep. Diane Black; former Deputy Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Liz Cheney; Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin; Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer; business executive Carly Fiorina; GOP strategist Ana Navarro; Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser; "The View" former co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck; former RNC Deputy Chairwoman Maria Cino; and commentators Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin.

Newsmax also looks at the "Up & Comers" among Republican women, and the trailblazers like Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush, who set the bar for exceptional first ladies.

Newsmax magazine is one of the most popular and influential news publications in America. It has been honored with a Gold Eddie Award in the News/Commentary category of Folio magazine's prestigious journalism awards, the Eddies, and a Charlie Award, the highest honor from the Florida Magazine Association, in each of five categories including Best In-Depth Reporting.

Ben Stein says Newsmax reveals the "unafraid, uncomplicated, bare-knuckles truth about today's dangerous world."

Among the other articles in the August issue:

• An excerpt from author and columnist Conrad Black's new book "Flight of the Eagle: The Grand Strategies That Brought America from Colonial Dependence to World Leadership."

Black asserts that America seems to have lost its vocation for greatness in the absence of any rivals, but he is confident that with better leadership, the American eagle will rise again.

• Newsmax magazine looks at the impact that revelations about the National Security Agency's surveillance program could have on the economy. Privacy advocates are calling for restrictions on the type and amount of personal information the online companies are allowed to collect and share. Given that the online sector accounts for nearly 6 percent of U.S. gross domestic product, the potential impact is huge.

• Political strategist Douglas Schoen's "Unconventional Wisdom" column maintains that Vice President Joe Biden could be a real contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, and previews the Hillary Clinton-Biden battle that may be brewing.

• "Cold War Heats Up in the Arctic" examines the struggle over which nations will control the Arctic's coveted oil reserves and rare-earth metals.

• And an article on zero-interest credit cards discloses how Americans can take advantage of the boom in card offers, which feature zero interest on both purchases and balance transfers.