Republicans have made gains among minority voters in the last two elections, marking a significant shift among some of the most faithful voting blocs for Democrats.
The GOP saw a surge in support from Asian, Black, Hispanic and Latino voters in November, building on the growth the party saw in the midterm elections.
But some Republicans warn that the party must do more to continue these gains and not take these voters for granted.
“If the House GOP leadership doesn’t start thinking critically about the role minorities play in their conferences and the outreach required, they will miss the moment,” said Helder Toste, former Republican National Hispanic Outreach Director Committee (RNC) told The Hill.
Much of the success the GOP achieved among voters of color was due to President-elect Trump.
CNN polls showed Trump’s support among Latino voters increased from 32 percent to 46 percent. Among Asian American voters, Trump improved the number from 34 percent to 39 percent.
“The fact that Trump reached this record high in Hispanic share is no coincidence,” Toste said. “There has been a lot of partisan investment in the last few years, which has largely allowed President Trump to ride the wave.”
He pointed to major investments in minority communities in battleground states like Georgia and Pennsylvania. The RNC also opened outreach centers in the run-up to the election, hoping to reach voters of color. Toste added that grassroots organizers like him have been knocking on doors and sharing critical information with voters for some time.
But, Toste added, the GOP needs to recognize that its base is no longer as homogeneous as many once thought.
“The party needs to be clear that it won because of Hispanics and not just a white coalition like in 2016,” Toste said. “If they don’t learn this lesson, they will lose.”
Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist, acknowledged that some of the pro-Trump numbers came as a surprise, but dismissed the gains as a one-off rather than a growing trend.
“You never make assumptions about the electorate or about voters in general,” Seawright said. “I think what that means for Democrats is that we have to be very intentional about motivating, cultivating and educating our base.”
Motivating this base will be critical as Democrats look ahead to the upcoming special election amid vacancies in the House due to Cabinet appointments, he added.
Part of that base is black voters.
Although many black Americans grew up with conservative or conventional values, more than 80 percent identify as or lean Democratic.
Despite Trump’s gains among Latino voters, he fell tiny among black voters, a key voting bloc for Democrats. Only 13 percent of Black voters voted for Trump — a negligible augment from 12 percent in 2020.
Still, Janiyah Thomas, Black media director for Team Trump, said she met many Black voters who felt connected to the Trump campaign but were too afraid to speak openly about it.
“The Democrats have put so much pressure on a lot of people that they feel like they’re losing their black card because they didn’t vote for Kamala Harris,” Thomas argued.
She added that the Republican Party must now capitalize on this frustration with Democrats if it wants to attract more Black voters in time for the 2026 midterm elections.
“Republicans need to work twice as hard to speak to this demographic,” she said.
This extra work is partly because some black voters are concerned about Republican messaging.
Morandon Henry, a voter who supported Vice President Harris this year, told The Hill on election night at Howard University that he had major concerns about Trump’s rhetoric surrounding the Central Park Five and his reportedly “sh-t-hole- “Countries” remark in which Trump apparently referred to Haiti and African countries with the derogatory label during his first term in office.
That rhetoric has him worried about how Trump — and the larger Republican Party — views black Americans.
“As a black man, I’m scared,” Henry said.
Thomas, the Trump campaign member, said the GOP needs to find modern messengers to reach voters like Henry — and some of those messengers could be black men.
“We have to find a way to make people, especially Black people, feel more comfortable with us, and the right messenger will make people feel more comfortable,” Thomas said. “We have great leadership between members of Congress [Byron] Donalds, Senator Tim Scott, Wesley Hunt. It’s not just them, it starts there.”
But Republicans also need to go where they’re not welcome, added Whitley Yates, director of diversity and engagement for the Indiana Republican Party.
“Republicans have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, which means going into districts where you know you’re not going to win that community, but you’re going to get involved anyway because they deserve it, your ideas as someone to hear who represents them,” Yates said.
“The problem in the past is that Republicans have often been afraid to go where they didn’t see political benefit, where it wasn’t politically profitable to go into communities and go into spaces where you can see the good “Everyone knows.” I won’t agree with you.”
She pointed to Trump’s rally in the Bronx and even his appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists conference in July.
The appearance was heavily criticized and his comments sparked outrage, but the fact that he showed up knowing he would not be welcome was significant for a community that has consistently felt overlooked by politicians, Yates said.
“Republicans need to learn this lesson,” Yates said. “It’s not about politics. The goal is if [voters of color] If someone has a problem, at least they have someone on their right hand to call.”
