{mosads}The effort, called the Future Majority Project (FMP), was launched in 2011 and helped elect 15 new Hispanic Republicans and 84 new Republican women to office last cycle.
In 2014, the FMP is aiming to elect 75 new diverse candidates to state office, and the project is expanding beyond Hispanics and women to Asian-Americans, Indian-Americans, Native Americans, African-Americans, Arab-Americans and others.
In a memo to RSLC members, Matt Walter, the managing director of political affairs for the group, noted that the 2012 election highlighted the need for Republicans to expand their appeal as the demographics of America continue to change.
On the national level, in a post-election retrospective report, the Republican National Committee also emphasized the need to recruit more diverse candidates to run for office. But Walter said that the effort has to begin at the state level.
“The way we grow our Republican Party is by creating a strong, diverse field team on the escalator to higher office and enacting good policy that grows the economy, supports job creators and keeps more money in the pockets of working families,” he wrote.
The expanded FMP also includes a commitment to invest at least $6 million into the effort. And as Walter writes, the RSLC plans to support these candidates in their campaigns as well.
“We should not only recruit them, but also offer to help by significantly investing time and resources to support and elect new candidates that represent the country’s population,” he wrote.