State GOP’s Problem? Too White, Too Male

Allan Hoffenblum gave a roomful of mostly Republicans a hard look in the mirror at the Balboa Bay Club today. The major cause of the continued deterioration of the GOP in California is that it has done little to attract minorities, women and youth.

“It’s become a white man’s party,” he said at the Newport Beach luncheon.

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“The Latino and Asian populations continue to grow, and they’ve stopped voting Republican,” said Hoffenblum, former political director for the state GOP and now an elections handicapper.

Among the state’s white, non-Hispanic voters, 40 percent are Democrat and 42 percent are Republican. Among Latinos, 57 percent Democrat and 19 percent Republican. Among Asians, 30 percent Democrat and 29 percent Republican (and a whopping 39 percent independent).

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Among the state’s 33 Democratic members of Congress, 54 percent are women. Five are Latino and three are black. Just nine are white, non-Hispanic men.

Among the state’s 19 Republican members of Congress, there are 18 white males and Mary Bono. Hoffenblum ran down similar ratios in the state Legislature.

“When it comes to Latinos, I think it’s because of the shrillness of the debate on illegal immigration,” he said for that minority’s reluctance to join the Grand Ole Party. “It’s not the message–it’s how it’s delivered. Latinos and younger voters think we don’t like them.”

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