WASHINGTON, DC — With a record number of Hispanic Americans eligible to vote this year, The Ripon Society hosted a luncheon discussion this past Friday afternoon looking at how Republicans can effectively engage this growing part of the nation’s electorate.
“More than 27 million Hispanic Americans will be eligible to vote this year,” stated Ripon Society President & CEO Jim Conzelman in remarks to open the discussion. “That’s the most ever in our nation’s history. It’s also a reason why Republicans need to make Hispanic outreach a top priority.
“To their credit, officials at the House Republican Conference are doing just that, as are an increasing number of GOP offices on Capitol Hill. The purpose of Friday’s discussion was to hear from some of these offices and officials, to learn more about their Hispanic outreach efforts, and to get a better idea of how other Republicans can listen to and engage with this increasingly important part of the American electorate.”
Those participating in the discussion included: Stoney Burke, the Chief of Staff to U.S. Rep. Will Hurd (TX-23); Bob Haueter, the Chief of Staff to U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold (TX-27); Jason Larrabee, the Chief of Staff to U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham (CA-10); Keith Fernandez, the Director of Communications to U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-27); and, Daniel Bucheli, Press Secretary for Hispanic Specialty Media for the House Republican Conference.
Also participating in Friday’s discussion were four representatives from Univision, which is a member of The Ripon Society and reaches over 12 million Hispanics each week. The Univision representatives included: Lourdes Torres, the Senior Vice President for Political Coverage and Special Events; Martha C. Kattan, the Vice President for News in Texas; Roberto Vizcon, the News Director for Univision in Miami; and, Bert Gomez, the Senior Vice President of Government Relations for Univision Communications Inc.
“The purpose of Friday’s discussion was to hear from some of these offices and officials, to learn more about their Hispanic outreach efforts, and to get a better idea of how other Republicans can listen to and engage with this increasingly important part of the American electorate.”
According to Conzelman, Friday’s discussion was attended by a crowd of more than 70 people from the House and Senate, and follows up on a series of discussions The Ripon Society has had in recent years aimed at expanding the Republican base. The discussion was also, Conzelman noted, The Ripon Society’s 24th event of 2016. He added that the next event will be a discussion this Thursday, April 28th, featuring U.S. Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska.
The Ripon Society is a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 and takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 — Ripon, Wisconsin. One of the main goals of The Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s success. These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people.
To view additional photos of yesterday’s luncheon discussion, please click here.