The Republican National Committee isn’t listening to the refrains about demographic destiny coming from mediocre analysts on the Right or the Left. It’s making a play for voters that Republicans have typically ignored in the past, and the path to success is clearly there.
On Tuesday, the RNC opened a Hispanic community center in McAllen, Texas. The border town elected a Republican mayor earlier this year, and Republicans have seen their support continue to climb through South Texas. The RNC has also set up community offices in Laredo, Texas; Doral, Florida; and Milwaukee. It’s also opened a black community center in Cleveland and Asian-Pacific community centers in Atlanta and Orange County, California.
And, while the narrative has mostly focused on Florida and Texas because they are two of the most populous states in the country, Republicans actually made gains with Hispanics across the country. As Democratic analyst Ruy Teixeira detailed, former President Donald Trump made substantial gains among Hispanics in Nevada, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Georgia. He also got the most support from Hispanics under the age of 30.
Nationally, Trump also improved his performance among Asians (+7), black men (+6), and black women (+5). And these trends aren’t exclusive to Trump. An Emerson poll of the Virginia governor’s race has GOP challenger Glenn Youngkin leading former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe among Hispanics 55%-45%, with Youngkin also trimming the Democratic lead among black voters from +75 in 2017 exit polls to +47.
It is refreshing, to say the least, to see the RNC commit to winning voters that the party had mostly abandoned or ignored for years. It is even more refreshing to see the party do it without sacrificing conservative principles and trying to engage in the shameless racial pandering that Democrats often do.
Demographic prophesying from the Left was always wish-casting, as Democratic believers assumed they would never have to try to win elections among certain constituencies again. But the Republican belief in demographics being destiny was always bizarre and counter to the idea that conservatism is for everybody. The fact that the RNC rejected the doomsday scenarios of those members of the party bodes well for the future of the GOP and the future of the country.
