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‘No Idea Why They’re Behind the Times On This’

From my front page story about the Republican National Committee's efforts (or possible lack thereof) to broaden its appeal to minority voters:

"Did you see me or any Hispanics at this [RNC winter meeting]? No,” Alci Maldonado, president of the National Republican Hispanic Assembly, told TheBlaze. “To my knowledge, no [NRHA] chairman from any state was in that meeting.” The NRHA is a grassroots organization that recruits Latino voters to the GOP, originally formed by the RNC in 1974. The two groups are no longer directly affiliated, though Priebus is a member of the NRHA. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is also a member.

Asked why she wasn’t invited to speak at the meeting, Maldonado said she had “no idea, to be perfectly frank,” adding that she had “no idea why they’re behind the times on this.” An RNC spokesperson said invites to the meeting were only sent to members and that there were “several Hispanic members” who conducted a panel discussion on the GOP’s efforts to engage Latino voters.

“They have not taken advantage of us to the full capacity,” Maldonado said. “They could put us at a roundtable. But I’m the last person to know when they’re having a meeting.”

I also interviewed Jimmy LaSalvia, co-founder of the gay Republican group GOProud, for the story. He said his group has a good relationship with the RNC. And yet, he said the RNC has yet to establish any serious plans with GOProud to recruit gay voters. Read it here.

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