Examining two cases from twentieth-century US history, I explore feminists’ disengagement from electoral and party politics and its consequences. I argue that in these pivotal moments feminists largely ceded the terrain of electoral politics to their opponents and, in the breach, backlash thrived, reactionaries won power through elections, and antifeminists shaped the policy agenda at feminists’ expense. I conclude that to defeat backlash and advance a feminist future, feminists must build on women’s increased electoral participation post-2016 in order to elevate feminists to positions of power in the parties and the state.