This young, Latina conservative hopes to shake up the GOP.
New Hampshire State Rep. Marilinda Garcia (R) says she’s planning to run for a House seat in order to bring some diversity to a party she views as “populated mostly with old, white men.”
“There is a stereotype about the Republican Party at this point,” Garcia told the New Hampshire Union Leader. “It does concern me, so I feel it’s incumbent on me to be the change you want to see.”
An adjunct professor of music who holds a master’s in public policy from Harvard, Garcia describes herself as pro-business and says she supports the “full repeal of Obamacare,” according to the Union Leader.
The Hispanic conservative leans too far right for some. The New Hampshire Democratic Party's Communication Director, Harrell Kirstein, slammed Garcia as a "Tea Party ideologue" Monday, after she announced that she'd run.
"From imposing new restrictions on women’s health care services to having state government interfere with the rights of businesses and their employees to freely negotiate contracts, Garcia’s priorities are not New Hampshire’s,"
The Republican Party has struggled with its image among Hispanics and women in the wake of the 2012 presidential election.
President Barack Obama won some 55 percent of the women’s votes, compared to 44 percent for Mitt Romney, according to CNN exit polls -- an advantage that particularly helped the president’s reelection campaign in swing states.
The vote was even more lopsided for Hispanics. Obama won 71 percent of the Latino vote, with Romney pulling only 27 percent, the worst showing since Bob Dole’s unsuccessful 1996 campaign.
The GOP has tried to boost its appeal to Latinos, launching a seven-state outreach effort in October.
Before You Go
