Politics

A Night Of Firsts: Will 2014 Be The Year Of GOP Diversity?

Matt K. Lewis Senior Contributor
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As the media focuses on whether or not Republicans will take the U.S. Senate tomorrow, it is interesting to note the largely overshadowed potential for electing a diverse group of Republicans to the House of Representatives.

Consider, for example: Elise Stefanik could become the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. My old friend Alex Mooney, whose mom immigrated from Cuba, could become the first Hispanic Congressman elected from West Virginia. Openly gay Republican candidates like California’s Carl DeMaio and Massachusetts’s Richard Tisei are running for House seats (I believe either would become the first openly gay non-incumbent Republican Congressman.) And Utah’s Mia Love could become the first black Republican woman and the first Haitian American member of Congress.

Other notable candidates include N.H. state Rep. Marilinda Garcia, former Hawaii Rep. Charles Djou, and former CIA operative Will Hurd (running in Texas.) I could go on …

Not all of these candidates will win. But when one considers the GOP already dominates among top-tier minority candidates, including Senators like Tim Scott, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz — and Governors like Susana Martinez, Brian Sandoval, Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley, et al. — the likelihood that the GOP bench will grow deeper (and more diverse) might end up being the most underrated story of the cycle.

Matt K. Lewis