Hunter Thomas

My name is Hunter Avilio Thomas. My mama is Dora Magdalena Salinas Thomas. My abuelos are Avilio and Mercedes Salinas. My mother was born and raised in Mexico City. Her father was a poor taxi driver and her mother was a stay-at-home mom. I am a rare specimen in politics—a free-market, small-government, traditionally-principled conservative and Hispanic. Conservatives and Latinos share many values: protecting the family, eliminating government corruption, and achieving prosperity through hard work, not entitlement. Conservatives must appeal to Latinos in an unprecedented way. Mick Mulvaney, a Tea Party conservative from South Carolina, told a group of supporters: “At some point, we’re going to figure out that if you take the entire African-American community and write them off, you take the entire Hispanic community, and write them off, what’s left? About 38% of the country. You cannot win with 38% of the country.” [1] This party has a bright future if it starts drawing people in instead of writing them off. To gain much-needed support among Latinos, the Republican Party must emphasize social issues to motivate Latinos and then focus on securing our borders while advancing immigration reform.