Daniela Altimari | (TNS) CQ-Roll Call As he seeks to flip a competitive House district in Southern California, Republican Matt Gunderson is leaning into his identity as a “girl dad” to convince voters that he backs abortion rights. “I don’t want politicians dictating health care for my daughters,” Gunderson says in a new ad – his first of the cycle – asserting that he believes abortion should be “safe, legal and rare.” Gunderson, who is running against Democratic Rep. Mike Levin, said in an interview that being the father of four daughters, ages 18 to 23, has shaped his thinking on several key issues. “When you do have four young adult women in your world, you are concerned about how government impacts their lives in every single way,’’ he said, “whether it’s [abortion], or…this incredible debt that we’re piling on these generations and or the crime on the streets, or what open borders are doing to their opportunities and their quality of their life.” Gunderson, who is running in a district covering southern Orange and northern San Diego counties, isn’t the only GOP candidate centering his role as the father of daughters. While none of the ads specifically deploy the phrase “girl dad’’ — which has become shorthand for a father’s pride in his daughter’s achievements and a way to signify that he values gender equality – the message of female empowerment is clear. And it’s not exclusive to Republicans: in a speech at the Democratic National Convention last month, Ashley Biden, President Joe Biden’s 43-year-old daughter, deployed the phrase with a gangsta modifier, calling him “the OG girl dad” who “told me I could be anything and I could do anything.” ‘Know how to listen’ In Pennsylvania, Dave McCormick, who is running against Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in a race that could determine the balance of power in the chamber, is airing an ad that stars his wife, Dina McCormick, and alludes to their six daughters. In the ad, which does not mention abortion, McCormick says being the only male in the household has taught him to be a better listener.