(TheLibertyRevolution.com)- 2022 is shaping up to be a breakthrough year for the GOP on at least one diversity front: Black candidates.
Ten years after its “autopsy” of Mitt Romney’s loss to Barack Obama in 2012 found that the GOP’s biggest issue was its failure to appeal to voters of color. The GOP is poised to make strides in this area.
Reports show that a decade-long effort to broaden the appeal of the GOP is finally bearing fruit and could play a pivotal role. Georgia, where high-profile Black Republicans are vying for nominations for governor and senator, to Michigan, where former Detroit Police Chief James Craig is the odds-on favorite to face off against Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer. There is a lineup of well-funded House and Senate candidates poised to break the record for the number of Black Republicans elected to Congress.
It will be interesting to see if the influx of Black conservative candidates can influence the Democrat Party’s most devoted voting bloc to switch to the Republican Party. However, the party has cause for optimism based on previous contests in which a Black GOP candidate has run.
Leah Wright Rigueur is a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University and the author of the 2016 book The Loneliness of the Black Republican. She claims that some Republicans are astute enough to realize they can win if they garner 10 to 15 percent of Black voters in state and local elections.
According to reports, this year’s contest for governor of Michigan may be one of the most significant test cases. Rigueur claims that Craig’s attempt to defeat Whitmer is not about winning 50 percent of Black voters. It’s not even about winning 100 percent. It’s about making the difference and winning enough to send them over the brink.
In the 2016 elections in Virginia, there were instances of Black Democrats losing to white Republicans in areas with substantial Black majorities. According to RNC spokesperson Paris Dennard, it is a sign that the GOP is undermining Black support for the Democratic Party.
Dennard, the first Black person to occupy his RNC post, believes that the GOP is an inclusive party making substantial gains. With recent successes, we are enthusiastic about our chances of having even more Black conservatives elected to serve in 2022.
