In 2010, GOP Set to Shake White-Guy Image

The ongoing shake-up in the Republican Party may see a much more diverse set of GOP candidates up for election in 2010, Politico reports. Viable female and ethnic minority Republicans candidates will be seeking governor's jobs or Senate seats in states across the country, including California and Texas. The candidates, party insiders hope, will give the GOP a much-needed boost in the many areas it lost last year.

The Republican has fielded few minority candidates in the past—and elected even fewer—but many in the party acknowledge that it's ripe for an image change in the face of America's changing demographics. "It opens the door for a first look," Newt Gingrich said of the candidacy of Michael Williams, a black Texan seeking Kay Bailey Hutchison's Senate seat. "It opens up moderate areas and suburban areas in a way that traditional candidates can't."

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