Minorities go GOP

 

THERE IS A RISING TIDE OF R’S OF COLOR in case you hadn’t noticed. 14% of Af-Am voters went R in 2022 vs. 8% in 2018.  Trump won 12% in 2020.  Hispanic voters were 39% in 2022 vs. 29% in the 2018 midterms and 32% when Trump won in 2020.  In 2020, the House margin narrowed from a 38 Dem margin to 5 and in 2022 to +5 R’s.  In 2020, 13 R’s beat incumbent D’s and among the R’s were an Af-Am, an Iranian-Am 2 Korean-Ams, a Cherokee, 3 Hispanics, and son of Portugese immigrants. The Caucasian share of voters went from 72% to 67% in 2020, so this is significant. And in 2022 the 2 Af-Am House R’s were joined by 2 more.

     Texan Wesley Hunt and MI, John James were those 2 new Af-Am R’s. Both are West Pointers. Hunt says, “A lot of people in general think the big thing is that you are black. That’s about #10 for me.  I want to get ot the point to where we stop talking about it at all.” He’s a father, husband, a combat vet and now a congressman. The guys in the barber shop, he relates have gone from never-Trump to “please tell me he is running.” They don’t like everything about him but they miss his economy, prior to $5 gas and inflation well over 5%.  The issues of crime and the economy are high on everyone’s list.  “If the Republican Party can get 20% of the black vote, Democrats can’t win,” Mr. Hunt says. “Black men are moving.” And everyone worries about how their cities are dying. To win more, R’s will have to have a message of getting ahead and how to overcome the bad guys in the neighborhood.

     The rise of R’s among minorities came from a post-mortem after we lost the 2012 elections that urged R’s engage nonwhites.  But after Trump engaged white working class voters in 2016, many Republicans scoffed at the 2012 study.  Kevin McCarthy was an exception who recruited minority candidates.  This is what has fueled the secret rise. Even among the close losses in S. Texas and Arizona, very competitive R’s had Hispanic surnames. And some like FL’s Luna won. So did Juan Ciscomani who upset an apparent solid Dem in AZ.  . His theme was the American Dream, opportunity and freedom. And he advocates better border patrol, (illegals crush those who come according to the rules) while opening border entry ports.  “Some border towns have 80% of their economy in Mexican tourism. “The American experiment is alive and well among the common people worldwide.” And it was critical that he is very Spanish fluent to have interviews on Telemundo and Univision. When Biden did his SOTU, Ciscomani gave the Republican’s Spanish rebuttal and it was hailed as ‘what America should be all about’ by scores of writers.  He notes that lower income minorities rallied to AZ Gov. Doug Ducey’s school choice.  Choice is a big deal to Af-Ams too since the inner city schools are often horrid. Mr. Hunt of TX is an unabashed supporter of the oil and gas industry but also all other forms of energy.  “God gave us all these resources.  We need to be in the business of using our own resources to fuel ourselves and our allies.”  At West Point he lived in the Robert E. Lee barracks and his grandfather was a Louisiana slave. He opposes the Army changing the name  on the barracks.  “It’s a reminder of where we were and how far we’ve come.”  Both men spoke often of their Christian faith on the campaign trail. Mr. Ciscomani  used to help his dad wash cars in the rich part of Tucson and his father pointed out that his campaign headquarters was just two blocks from where they washed fancy cars. “Only in America,” became his campaign refrain. What struck him was how much his family’s history resonated with voters. People would always come up to me afterwards and say, “Your story is my story.” So he would ask about their story. “It was nothing like mine!” but the story of opportunity was.

     It should be pointed out that 30 of the 60 House districts represented by minorities have majority white voters.  What sells is a message that transcends both European/Caucasians and minorities. (Sourced from Wall Street Journal)