At RNC, Republicans see an opportunity to win over voters of color and young voters

MILWAUKEE — They gathered for the Republican National Convention to make Donald Trump their presidential nominee under the banner of "Make America Great Once Again" — a riff on the nostalgic slogan the former president used in his winning 2016 campaign.

But as Republicans hope to deliver another Trump victory, they rallied behind an unofficial theme as they look towards their party's future: realignment.

The Republican National Convention's speaker lineup highlights the party's attempts at racial diversity, and at events throughout the week, GOP stalwarts celebrated what they see as the shifting demographics of their party's coalition.

One of the most prominent Black Republicans used his prime-time speaking slot Monday night to take an apparent dig at the campaign promise Barack Obama ran on in 2008 to become America's first Black president.

"Black people were sold on hope. Now our streets are rife with crime. Our kids can't read. And illegals are getting better help from Democrats in four days than we've gotten in 400 years," said U.S. Rep. John James, a Michigan Republican.

"I'd say that Democrats have neglected the Black vote, but Republicans haven't even tried. And right now what I see – particularly at this convention – is Republicans making the effort," James told USA TODAY.

Speakers at the convention made repeated pleas for party unity. Those calls come at a time when the transformation of GOP voting base is underway, Republicans attending the event said.

But these most loyal GOP activists face a test when they return home: Can they translate their vision of an expanded Republican Party into a victory at the ballot box this fall?

Today's Republican Party is not the one Rusat Ramgopal remembers when he grew up.

"The party of George Bush was not very demographically diverse," said the 24-year-old Republican delegate from New York. In comparison, he described the GOP led by Trump "the most diverse Republican Party in history."

Ramgopal, a law school graduate who works on Republican campaigns, said he's the son of immigrants of Indo-Caribbean ethnic descent who was born in New York City and grew up in a broken home.

"I think few people … when I was growing up would have ever thought that a kid like that would be not just attending but welcomed at a Republican national convention," he said. While he doesn't expect most young voters to vote Republican this fall, he said the GOP has still made significant inroads among youth.

Polling has provided warning signs for Democrats. Biden's support among adults 18-29 had diminished in a matchup against Trump compared with the same point in the 2020 campaign cycle, according to the poll from the Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics.

When it comes to another key Democratic constituency — Black voters — James is not the only Republican who sees a shift underway. Zina Hackworth, a 59-year-old Black woman and a lifelong Republican from outside St. Louis said the Democratic Party has taken Black voters for granted and may not be able to count on their support.

"I believe it is definitely getting to that point," she said at a gathering during the convention to honor Black GOP delegates called "The New Mavericks."

Biden and Trump have both courted Black voters this cycle.

In Detroit — one of the nation's largest majority-Black cities — the political rivals have held events to appeal to voters in the Democratic stronghold and battleground state. A vast majority of Black voters are expected to once again support the Democratic nominee.

National and battleground state polling earlier this year showed "surprisingly robust" support from Black voters for Trump, according to an article from The Center for Politics at the University of Virginia by political scientist Alan Abramowitz.

A look at recent election trends doesn't portend a surge of Black voter support for Republicans this fall, the review found. At the same time, "even a small increase could be important, given how close the key swing states could be in November," Abramowitz wrote.

The Democratic Party's edge among Black voters has softened in recent years, according to a report published earlier this year from the Pew Research Center. So has the party's support among Hispanic voters, the report found.

Those results were mirrored in one high schooler's survey of his classmates. Caden Schaefer-Rose is a rising senior at West Allis High School in Wisconsin, home to what he said was a diverse student body with large Hispanic and Black populations.

He said his findings showed that most attending the school support Trump.

Schaefer-Rose will be old enough to vote for the first time in the Nov. 5 election and plans to support Trump. He said his mother has only ever voted once her in life, and his father has never voted.

He founded a statewide association for high school Republicans that is working this cycle to register new voters.

But will Republicans across the country aid his efforts with their own get out the vote push? As Republicans look to expand their base, they've also embraced voting methods.

Republican National Convention: Felon. Martyr. MAGA unifier: Will assassination attempt change the way people view Trump?

When Trump announced "Swamp the Vote USA" — a voter mobilization effort his campaign and the RNC launched — he encouraged voters to make their voice heard any way they can whether they choose to vote absentee or vote early. The call comes after he spent the 2020 campaign cycle railing against mail-in voting, laying the foundation for his effort to overturn his defeat.

After Thursday night, when Trump accepted his party's nomination, Republican delegates in Milwaukee began packing their bags and heading home, united in their hope for a different outcome this time.

While the a convention served as a multi-day celebration of Republican policies, Ramgopal — the New York delegate — acknowledged not every issue is a winning one for the kind of voters the party wants to attract, such as young voters opposed to GOP abortion policies. But frustrations with Democrats could still provide an opportunity for Republicans, he said.

Ramgopal said "disaffection with the Democrats" is driving young voters toward the Republican Party.

"They're either sitting it out completely or voting Republican," he predicts.

It's a potential pattern that could be repeated across other demographics.

Looking for more on Michigan’s elections this year? Check out our voter guide, subscribe to our elections newsletter and always feel free to share your thoughts in a letter to the editor.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: After RNC, the GOP sees a path with voters of colors and young voters