GOP Rep Tells Republicans to Stop Focusing on 'White, Male Conservative' Voters

Republican Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen warned that the party would lose young voters if it didn't stop focusing on white males.

"The young people rejected the Republican Party," the outgoing Florida representative, who is retiring after 30 years in office, said Friday while speaking with NPR's Morning Edition. "There's really no other way to say it. Suburban women left our party, and minorities did not see us as a welcoming voice. You just have to show people that you care. And we're not even willing to do that. We don't go to those neighborhoods. We don't go to suburbia. We don't talk to women. We're not doing anything to appeal to those groups."

Ros-Lehtinen, the first Latina and Cuban-American to serve in Congress, said her party had not been attentive enough to changing demographics in the country as the proportion of nonwhite individuals across the nation rises.

"We have been appealing to one certain section of America. I don't know what you want to call it. The white, male conservative is definitely getting a lot of issues thrown their way," she said.

During the interview, she said "I'm not saying that I'm leaving because Donald Trump got elected."

GettyImages-872113358
Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen speaks during a news conference about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Ros-Lehtinen warned that the party would lose young voters if it didn't stop focusing on white male conservatives.  Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Last month, Republicans were criticized for a photo showing incoming GOP lawmakers. "This portrait of newly elected members of Congress is striking," New York Times reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg said, noting the elected individuals were predominantly white. "Of 31 new Republicans, just one is a woman."

While 23 Republican women are currently in the House, only 13 will be in the 116th Congress, which begins in January. Eighty-nine women will serve for Democrats in the next House, an increase from the current 64.

Exit polls from the 2018 midterm elections showed that Republicans performed best among older white men. GOP candidates swayed the majority of white men ages 45 and above, according to CNN. But Democratic candidates drew significant majorities among younger voters.

Voters ages 18 to 24 particularly swayed toward Democratic candidates; 68 percent of individuals in this group voted for Democrats, far more than the 31 percent who voted for Republicans.

Outgoing legislators from both parties have recently issued impassioned rebukes of their political leadership.

"Let us recognize as authoritarianism reasserts itself in country after country that we are by no means immune," Senator Jeff Flake said in a farewell speech on Thursday, according to CNBC. "I believe that we all know well that this is not a normal time, that the threats to our democracy from within and without are real, and none of us can say with confidence how the situation that we now find ourselves in will turn out."

Missouri Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill, who failed to win re-election in the midterms, also criticized the Democratic Party. "This demand for purity, this looking down your nose at people who want to compromise, is a recipe for disaster for the Democrats," she told NPR. "Will we ever get to a majority in the Senate again, much less to 60, if we do not have some moderates in our party?"

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Daniel Moritz-Rabson is a breaking news reporter for Newsweek based in New York. Before joining Newsweek Daniel interned at PBS NewsHour ... Read more

To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.

Newsweek cover
  • Newsweek magazine delivered to your door
  • Newsweek Voices: Diverse audio opinions
  • Enjoy ad-free browsing on Newsweek.com
  • Comment on articles
  • Newsweek app updates on-the-go
Newsweek cover
  • Newsweek Voices: Diverse audio opinions
  • Enjoy ad-free browsing on Newsweek.com
  • Comment on articles
  • Newsweek app updates on-the-go