Republican pollster says GOP is making ‘concerted effort to recruit’ minority candidates

Republican pollster Jim Hobart said on Monday that the GOP is making a big push “to recruit candidates of color” in an effort to diversify and attract more voters. 

“Especially after 2018, you’re seeing the Republicans make a real, concerted effort to recruit more candidates of color, to recruit more female candidates,” Hobart, a partner at Public Opinion Strategies, told Hill.TV’s Jamal Simmons on “What America’s Thinking.” 

“The number of female candidates or female Republican members of Congress is dwindling, and there’s a recognition that ‘hey, that’s not a good thing,'” he continued. 

The 2018 midterm elections, in which Democrats recaptured the House, brought newfound diversity to Congress, with 22 percent of members of both chambers being racial or ethnic minorities. 

However, 90 percent of Congress’s racial or ethnic minority members are Democrats, while only 10 percent are Republicans, according to the Pew Research Center.

— Julia Manchester