House Republicans on Tuesday announced a new campaign arm in an effort to increase the number of conservative Hispanic members in Congress.
The new political action committee, the Hispanic Leadership Trust (HLT), will support “Hispanic and Latino Members and Candidates to Congress who believe in the American Dream – namely freedom, opportunity, and the aspiration for exceptionalism,” members said in a press release.
Representative Tony Gonzales of Texas and Representative Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida will lead HLT, which will focus on mentorship, raising funds, creating resources for House Republicans, and growing in areas “that we need,” Gonzales said, according to the Daily Caller.
“Why now? Why build this out? One, I mean, the country’s falling apart,” Gonzales said at a press conference announcing the measure, according to the report. “Democrat policies have failed time and time again. Hispanic communities have had enough.”
“We’re talking life-long Democrats that feel abandoned by this administration,” Gonzales said. “That’s not enough for them to come over to the Republican Party. We have to show up. We have to deliver and we have to offer a different solution.”
Gonzales credited House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy with helping him and other Latino members get elected in 2020.
“You know, Kevin’s been pushing this — how do we get more Hispanic members of Congress? How do we get more women? How do we get more veterans? Today, the Hispanic Leadership Trust just organizes that a little bit more, and it’s very exciting,” Gonzales said.
There are just 39 Hispanic members in the House, including ten Republicans, Roll Call reported.
McCarthy said at the press conference that more than 103 Hispanic GOP candidates have already filed to run and “that number’s just going to grow.”
“The Wall Street Journal poll found that Hispanic voters would back a Republican candidate over a Democrat by nine percentage points,” he added.