The New Mexico Republican Party is launching an aggressive strategy to win over Native American and Hispanic voters in 2020, state party chairman Steve Pearce told the Houston Chronicle.
Pearce says that the party will appoint outreach coordinators for Hispanics and Native Americans in every county across New Mexico and wants all candidates to make visiting Democratic strongholds during their campaigning.
"I am excited about minority candidates saying more broadly for the first time, 'I am Republican and I'm going to run as a Republican,'" Pearce told the Chronicle. "That is pretty powerful."
Currently, Native American and Latino candidates are running for seats in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate in two Republican primaries. Elisa Martinez, who is Latina and a member of the Navajo Nation, is running for U.S. Senate against Louie Sanchez, who is also Hispanic, and Gavin Clarkson, who is a member of the Choctaw Nation, the Chronicle reported.
The Democratic Party of New Mexico was criticized for not doing any outreach to minority voters, the paper reported. Latino Democrats even created the Hispanic Caucus three years ago after Democrats maintained an all-white leadership team, but in 2018 the state elected an all-minority, all-Democratic U.S. House, which was a first.
New Mexico Democratic Party Chair Marg Elliston said the party would continue to seek as many voters as possible, the news agency reported. Elliston also said Democrats would focus on President Donald Trump's previous remarks regarding immigrants and minorities.
Trump previously said he believes he will win five electoral votes and he has set up offices in New Mexico, according to the Chronicle. New Mexico has the largest percentage of Hispanic residents in the nation, as well as a significant Native American population.
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