Minority groups: Dems still falling short in consultantsâ diversity
Three months after a devastating loss that could put them deep in the political wilderness for years, House Democrats still havenât fixed one of their membersâ biggest complaints â the need to hire more minority consultants. For years, African-American and Latino members have protested that the partyâs campaign arms donât put nearly enough emphasis on hiring minority pollsters, consultants and strategists â an oversight that they argue hurt Democrats in the midterm election when people from those communities failed to vote. Story Continued Below âI think the lack of diversity in the contracting is quite clear. They can do better. Historically, the black caucus has been [taking] point on trying to highlight that issue,â said Mississippi Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, a senior Congressional Black Caucus member. âMinorities, both black and brown, are the most loyal people to the party, and I think a recognition of that loyalty can come through the contracting.â The party has broad room for growth. PowerPac+, a Democratic group, released a report this year that found that less than 2 percent of the money the Democratic Party spent during the 2010 and 2012 election cycles went to firms owned by minorities â just $8.7 million of $514 million spent. The report examined expenditures from the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The lack of minority representation has been a lingering issue for so long that some Hispanic and black political consultants have begun creating media companies to fill the void. On Wednesday, Democratic consultant Chuck Rocha, the president of Solidarity Strategies, announced that his firm would partner with Valiente to offer a Latino-owned media service. âI am happy to announce that you no longer have to hire white boys to create your Spanish-language TV ads. Nothing against traditional media firms, everyone knows I love white folks, Iâm marrying one,â Rocha joked in an email announcing the partnership. âWe just believe that if youâre going to communicate with the rising new American electorate, then you should hire a firm that does not just translate the words of an ad from English to Spanish.â Black lawmakers raised the issue of minority contractors with DCCC Chairman Ben Ray LujÃ¡n on Wednesday during a closed-door meeting, and it is expected to be a topic during a Congressional Black Caucus members-only meeting Thursday with DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. More than a dozen lawmakers and political consultants interviewed said theyâve seen a noticeable difference at the DCCC since LujÃ¡n was tapped to lead the House-focused campaign committee. The New Mexico Democrat railed against the lack of Latino consultants when he was in the rank and file. The DCCC hasnât yet inked new contracts with 2016 vendors, but LujÃ¡n told lawmakers during a private meeting in Philadelphia last week that increasing the number of minority-owned firms with contracts at the committee would be a top priority ahead of the next election. There are plans to model a program off the DNCâs 2012 national political convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, which made minority contracting a high priority. âJust beginning the second month of my first quarter here and Iâm proud of the diverse staff weâre building this cycle,â LujÃ¡n said in a statement. âIâm looking forward to continuing to work with my Democratic colleagues and our allies to put the majority in play in 2016 and do it with a team that truly represents the electorate.â The DCCC is close to implementing a new process for vendor hiring thatâs designed to increase participation of minority-owned firms. For now, Thompson said he was âtaking [LujÃ¡n] at his word that weâll be surprised at the involvementâ of minority contractors in 2016. But after Democrats lost 13 seats in 2014, including a Nevada seat held by Rep. Steven Horsford, an African-American, lawmakers want wholesale change. Black lawmakers complained after Horsfordâs loss that the DCCC and the DNC didnât do enough to stave off a challenge from Republican Cresent Hardy, who went on to win the seat. The contracting issue has been a thorn between the campaign committees and minority lawmakers for decades. Last May, Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), then the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said she had been urging the DCCC to improve its contracting numbers but met with resistance. âWeâve met and repeatedly requested the DCCCâs diversity goals in writing and have yet to receive them. It is clear to me they have no desire to address this issue,â Fudge said at the time.  The DCCC and DNC declined to share specific internal goals of how many minority-owned firms they hope to contract with for 2016 when contacted by POLITICO, but both committees stressed that growing a diverse base of contractors is a top priority. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, the current chairman of the CBC, praised LujÃ¡nâs âvision of having a diverse DCCC.â The North Carolina Democrat added that the DCCC will build a database of minority vendors using data that the party had used in Charlotte. Meanwhile, the DNC launched a task force after 2014 to better understand the midterm losses. Wasserman Schultz created a âdiversity planâ for 2016 that emphasizes the need for more minority hires at all levels of the campaign arm. âEnsuring that the partyâs business practices live up to our commitment to diversity is a part of everything we do, from the consultants we partner with, to the staff we recruit, the candidates we work with and our programs to train the next generation of leaders from diverse background,â the Florida Democrat said. In 2012, 50 percent of convention expenditures were awarded to firms owned by people of color, women, veterans or members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The committee arm also touts its network of internal committee heads and officers who are minorities. Rocha said the three campaign committees have been more aggressive with their outreach in 2015. By Monday, heâll have met with the executive directors for each committee and a number of leading PACs to discuss ways to bring minority firms into the fold â a first, he said, during his decades of experience in Democratic politics. âWe saw how badly the new American electorate preformed in the last cycle. When Latinos go from 73 percent to 67 percent â that 5 percentage point drop means something. We have to do a better job at everything weâre doing,â Rocha said. He added that LujÃ¡n â whom he called âfamilyâ â is a major force for change on diversity hiring. The committees havenât outlined hiring goals in his meetings, Rocha said, but there is a better understanding after the 2014 losses that outreach to minority communities must be created by strategists who intimately understand the concerns of Latinos or African-Americans. âIf there is going to be work done in Latino districts, districts where the majority of the populace is Latino, they want Latinos doing the work,â he said, referring to informal goals the committees outlined. âWe should have Latino operatives doing all of the work.â Both the Latino and African-American communities underperformed at the polls during the 2014 elections â mirroring a broader decrease in turnout among all voters. Despite nearly 10 million more Hispanic voters becoming eligible to vote in 2014 than 2006, the participation rate among Latino voters stayed flat at 8 percent. Part of the problem, consultants and lawmakers said during interviews, is that Democrats did not effectively reach minority communities with niche messages tailored to them. Both the DCCC and DNC brought in Hispanic-owned firms to message to Latino communities during 2014, but Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar said that is the minimum of what the committees should be doing. âWeâve been asking for this for a long time,â he said. Some consultants said they believe the party has massive work to do ahead of 2016. Cornell Belcher, with the boutique polling firm Brilliant Corners, said it is âmalpracticeâ that the Democratsâ campaign committees have relied for so long on firms that boast one or two high-profile minority partners but are predominantly white. Angela Rye, a principal of IMPACT Strategies and former CBC staffer, said bureaucracy within the DCCC and the DNC make it hard to push real change â especially in a town where contracts are often awarded to the same firms cycle after cycle. âThere are qualified vendors and they need a way to interface with these vendors,â Rye said. âThe same old tired practices wonât work anymore. You canât just keep hiring friends over and over again.â Rye said she has been impressed by the attention LujÃ¡n has given minority contracting but criticized the DNC for what she sees as a lack of diverse staff. âIf diversity is your priority, then you need someone solely responsible for diversity and â¦ they need to report directly to the chair,â Rye said. âIf they donât, then diversity isnât a priority.â The DNC notes it has had a chief diversity officer, Greg Hinton, on staff since 2011. Correction: A previous version of this story included incorrect information on whether the Democratic National Committee has a full-time staff member focused on minority outreach.Â