A moderate Republican leader says that suburban women, a highly-coveted subset of U.S. voters, are increasingly looking to support candidates with solutions to address America’s opioid epidemic.

“There was a time when suburban women may have thought that they were insulated from the ravages of drug abuse,” writes Sarah Chamberlain, president of the Republican Mainstream Partnership, in a column for The Hill. “But now they know that it's everywhere and that it doesn't spare any racial, ethnic or socioeconomic group.”

Chamberlain touts the efforts of Republicans in Congress who are pushing for a variety of initiatives aimed at treating and preventing drug addiction, including the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), which passed the Senate nearly unanimously recently.

The increasing support for treatment-based solutions to drug abuse from Republicans reflects the growing toll that opioid addiction has had on largely white suburban and rural areas of the country.

As more middle class families have seen loved ones get hooked on prescription painkillers and heroin, Republican elected officials are beginning to embrace a more compassionate approach to drug abuse that many liberal elected officials from urban areas have backed for years.

The new tone on drugs is a radical shift from the rhetoric that dominated in the 1990s and much of the early part of the 21st century, when politicians, including many leading Democrats, emphasized strict punishment for those caught with drugs. 

Despite the number of addiction-oriented bills that Chamberlain proudly notes Republicans have authored, her column also serves as a warning to those in the party who have balked at some of the more ambitious initiatives, including $600 million in funding that Democrats and some in the GOP wanted to attach to CARA.

“Suburban women will be watching in this election season to see whether the political system is still capable of responding to critical national needs,” she wrote. “Politicians who want the votes of this group would be well-advised to pay attention to their concerns — and to put all their efforts into passing bills that can relieve the scourge of addiction.”