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In 2010, GOP Set to Shake White-Guy Image

Party has wealth of female and minority candidates on deck

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 5, 2009 12:14 PM CDT

(Newser) – 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."

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

Michael Williams, chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, gestures to the crowd as he gets ready to speak at the Republican National Convention last year. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Michael Williams, chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, speaks at the Republican National Convention last year. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

Meg Whitman, right, former eBay chief executive and Republican gubernatorial hopeful for California, waves during a town hall meeting earlier this year. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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I think there's kind of an organic uprising of new blood and new faces in the party right now. We're not going to be the party of nominating the next guy in line. I think there's an eagerness for new faces. - RNC field director Alan Philip

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In 2010, GOP Set to Shake White-Guy Image