Manuel Castaneda is only running for a seat in the Oregon House of Representatives, but Republicans in Washington already have high hopes for the candidate and others like him.
The Mexican-born owner of a landscaping business from Washington County is one of 114 Hispanics involved in the Future Majority Project, an effort of veteran GOP strategist Ed Gillespie’s Republican State Leadership Committee.
“There are certainly future Congress members, future attorneys general, future governors, and future U.S. senators and maybe even a president in there,” Matt Walter, the political director of the Republican State Leadership Committee, told The Daily Caller.
The project is an organized effort to recruit and support qualified Hispanic candidates for legislative and other seats at the state level. The idea is to develop a farm team of candidates for a party that is looking for ways to appeal to and win over Hispanics.
“The goal of the Future Majority Project is to have a long-term, sustainable effort to grow the Republican family,” Walter said in an interview.
He added: “Certainly, the RSLC in many respects helps grow and develop the farm team and get folks on the escalator to higher office.”
Last week, Castaneda and nine other top-tier recruits of the Future Majority Project from nine states gathered in Dallas for a private summit that included meetings with prominent Hispanics like Republican Govs. Susana Martinez of New Mexico and Brian Sandoval of Nevada.
“I felt like there was some wind behind my back,” Castaneda told TheDC. “Because you do need all the support you can get. Knowing that you’re not alone makes a big difference. And being here with the other candidates is a great thing.”
The organization’s political director said they help recruit Hispanics by informing local parties and candidates that their resources will be available to them if they run.
“I had already announced I was going to run, but this definitely reinforced for me the time was right for me to step and do this,” said AJ Feeney-Ruiz, who is running for an open seat in the Indiana State House of Representatives.
Walter said the full-day summit in Dallas was the first big event of the Future Majority Project. The candidates participated in things like filming sessions and issue briefings.
Others candidates who participated in the summit echoed Castaneda when speaking to TheDC.
“It’s a project that’s long overdue,” said Peterson Vazquez, who is running for the 138th New York State Assembly District.
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