‘This is how we guarantee failure’: Minority GOP leaders say divisiveness hurts recruitment
Top minority leaders in the Kansas Republican Party say they’re worried about the impact a divisive conversation about representation within the party will have on recruitment efforts.
GOP Chair Mike Brown has asked the party rules committee to reconsider a proposal that would remove groups representing Black, Hispanic, female and young Republicans from key party governing boards along with some elected officials.
Whether or not the proposed measure is rescinded, Talia Penn, vice chair of the Black Republican Caucus, said the divide in the state party will likely hinder efforts to recruit voters who may otherwise embrace a conservative message.
“Do you know how many African Americans actually feel like they’ve been isolated and they’ve been left behind by the progressive party? . . . They’ve been left behind now with the LGBTQ issues,” Penn said during a panel discussion Friday at the Wichita Pachyderm Club.
“When you can just bridge that divide by simply talking about those faith values to African Americans, there’s a lot of us that actually feel like we have been ignored. So this [hampers] any kind of recruitment that we were going to do.”
Ben Sauceda, chair of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, said the divide within the party could spell electoral disaster for the party, noting that Sedgwick County is among a long list of Kansas counties with a growing number of Hispanic voters.
“Those that would sit there and try to silence that voice that is so needed in our party, in our state, ought to be ashamed,” Sauceda said. “Because this is not how we win elections. This is how we guarantee failure at the election box every single cycle.”
The rules committee voted 8-3 to remove representatives from the state executive committee and the party state committee. Brown would have to bring the recommendation to the full state committee for a vote before it could go into effect.
Kelly Arnold, former GOP party chair and current rules committee member who voted against the proposed change, said there has been no effort to reconvene the committee since Brown asked them to deliberate further.
“There is no intent to meet and do this. They want to see this go forward,” Arnold said.
Rules committee members who voted in favor of the proposed changes will address the local Republican club on June 16.
“If I were a Democrat and I wanted to destroy the Republican Party in Kansas, I would propose on the rules committee exactly what’s been proposed, to exclude women, Hispanics, Blacks, young people — whoever else,” Pachyderm Club member Jim Garvey said.
“Who wants to be a part of that party?”
Another member, Ed Myers, said he supports the rules committee proposal as it was passed and asked how serious leaders are about representation.
“You guys are acting like Democrats. You’re putting everybody in a box,” he told panel members. “I’m Black, I’m white, I’m German, I’m Catholic. I don’t give a damn. My question is to you — if you want to protect minorities, I want each one of you to give me an answer. Will you support a gay and transgender person on our executive committee?”
Myers’ question was met with silence from the panel members.
