The Republican Party is the haven of white supremacists, bigots, and enthusiasts of the patriarchy.
Yet it appears someone forgot to tell the dozens of black Republicans and women of all races who are seeking to oust Democrats from the majority in Congress.
The Washington Times reported on Monday that a “record number of Black Republicans are running for Congress this year,” a trend that accelerated when the alleged racist-in-chief, Donald Trump, expanded the GOP’s conservative base in 2016.
According to the National Republican Congressional Committee, 81 black Americans are running as Republicans in 72 congressional districts this year.
That’s triple from just two years ago.
Committee spokesman Mike McAdams told the Times the number is “a record in the modern era” of the GOP.
Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, one of three black Republicans now in Congress, offered a simple explanation.
More black people are running as Republicans because they see more black Republicans in office.
“They see me. They see [Rep.] Burgess [Owens of Utah]. They saw [former Rep. Allen West of Florida]. They saw [former Rep. Mia Love of Utah]. They see [current Virginia Lt. Gov.] Winsome Sears. They see [current North Carolina Lt. Gov.] Mark Robinson. And what they say is, ‘You know what? Maybe I should step up, too,’” Donalds said.
The freshman lawmaker noted that he and other black officials “break the narrative that Black people are duty-bound to vote for Democrats,” the Times reported.
Said Donalds, “They’re seeing the awful things that Democratic policies have brought to their communities, and they’re just not taking it anymore. They’re looking for a new way.
And so they’re turning to Republicans because we have the answers.”
The GOP lineup includes people like Herschel Walker, a Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL star running for a Senate seat in his native Georgia, and John James, a West Point grad and businessman who ran twice for the Senate in Michigan and is now taking a crack at a House district in Detroit.
The Times report comes about a month after Politico noticed a similar trend.
In early February, Politico reported, “There are more Republican women and Hispanics running for Congress than ever before,” as 253 women and 228 people of color, including the black candidates mentioned above, have filed to run as Republicans across the country.
“In the most important seats, roughly two dozen open and battleground districts, a leading GOP candidate is either a woman or a person of color,” Politico reported.
Politico added that many of these GOP candidates are “competing for districts that [President Joe] Biden carried by between 9 points and 11 points in 2020 and could be well-positioned to bring independents and Biden voters into the party.”
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