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Non-white Republicans in Iowa say there's opportunity to win more votes like theirs

2024-01-17 00:00:00.0 ABC新闻-政治新闻原网页

Non-white Republicans in Iowa say there's opportunity to win more votes like theirs But some other voters say conservatives need to engage more in the communities.

By Kendall Ross and Abby Cruz

January 17, 2024, 5:47 AM

5:37

Iowa Republican voters Yarelis Bogdanoff, Jamila Jones and Michael Johnson are int...Show MoreShow More

ABC News

Michael Johnson, Jamila Jones and Yarelis Bogdanoff each have something in common: They're Republicans of color living in Iowa.

Each of them backed a different candidate in Monday night's caucuses -- Jones was a caucus captain for Donald Trump, who won; while Bogdanoff backed little-known pastor Ryan Binkley and Johnson was a captain for Ramaswamy, who suspended his campaign on caucus night. But they all share another ultimate goal: making sure a Republican is in the White House after November's election.

Minority voters aren't a huge part of the Republican base and made up a fraction of caucusgoers on Monday, according to entrance polls, but President Joe Biden is having his own issues with non-white supporters.

His approval rating has dropped among Black Americans since he took office and reports from 538 show an even larger decline among Hispanic voters.

Johnson told ABC News' Alex Presha that he felt not enough had been done by Republicans to engage minority voters, though there is an opportunity to persuade some of them.

"I've taken on a responsibility to be able to bring some of my family over, you know, because a lot of my African families are just Democrats by default," Johnson said, adding, "So I just feel like the GOP in general is not doing that when it comes to the minority overall."

Mary Campos and Wayne Ford have taken on that responsibility to educate, too -- for decades, working to unify Iowans and educate non-white communities about candidates from all parties.

MORE: Trump dominates with Republicans, and 5 other takeaways from Iowa caucuses

Campos -- a 95-year-old Mexican immigrant who emigrated to the United States as a child -- and Ford -- who has lived in Iowa since moving from Washington, D.C. in the late 1970s -- are the organizers behind the Black and Brown Presidential Forum in Iowa.

Since 1984, the bipartisan forum has addressed issues specifically facing non-white voters -- that was until this year, when organizers canceled because only one candidate accepted their invite: Binkley.

Campos and Ford said they got no response from Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley or Trump.

"I was a little surprised at that because I thought, you know, both of our parties represent people. And I just think that the timing was wrong for them," Campos said.

Still, Ford said, "We have never criticized anyone who did not participate. This is not our first rodeo."

When Presha spoke with Johnson, Jones and Bogdanoff, Johnson said he hadn't been aware of the candidate forum for non-white voters but "would have attended."

Bogdanoff and Jones both said their politics sometimes provoked a reaction from others.

"Some people say, like, I'm racist with my own community because I'm a Republican," Bogdanoff said -- and Jones said that her choice to wear a red "MAGA" hat for Trump could be a "conversation starter, definitely."

Iowa Republican voters Yarelis Bogdanoff, Jamila Jones and Michael Johnson are interviewed by ABC News' Alex Presha, on Jan. 15, 2024.

ABC News

Jones pushed back on some of the language used to describe non-white voters like "voter of color."

"We're separating ourselves. We're just Americans," she said. "And to be separate like that is -- it's not good."

But there are others who disagree.

"Even if I fill out a job application right now, it's going to ask me what my race, what my ethnicity is, so to pretend that that race doesn't matter, we're all American -- I feel like that's unrealistic," RJ Miller said.

Miller is currently an undecided voter who last voted for Barack Obama for president but isn't sold on another term for Biden. He said he feels more of the Black vote is up for grabs this election cycle.

"I feel like a lot of Blacks, they betted on Biden to be able to put some policies in play that were going to uplift the Black community and I feel like a lot of Black people feel like, you know, the vote got taken for advantage," he said.

"Then again, we have Donald Trump and a lot of people don't personally care for him," Miller said.

He told ABC News he takes issue with Republicans because of a lack of engagement in minority communities, he says.

"How could you understand the issues if you're not directly interacting with the people in these areas?" he said.

As for Campos and Ford, they plan to continue their work, organizing and reaching out to candidates and inviting them to engage with Black and other non-white Iowans.

"I'm tired of hearing 'America strong.' America's always been strong. America's a nation that we can be proud of," Campos said. "America is a nation that welcomes everybody and anybody. And so I can't tolerate anything that would say to me, 'Well, you're from the wrong side of the tracks.'"

"I can't stand it," she said. "And I'll do anything that I can to defeat it."

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