Chris Devaney: "We Cannot Continue To Be The Party Of Old White Men"

State Republican Party Chairman Chris Devaney told members of the Nightside Pachyderm Club on Thursday night that Republicans need to reach out to minorities and "grab them by the heart."

He said the GOP needs to appeal to African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians and other groups "without compromising our principles."

Speaking at Western Sizzlin at Ooltewah, he said Nashville has become "a melting pot" of many nationalities. He said one large group that may heed the GOP message is Coptic Christians.

Mr.

Devaney, who hails from Lookout Mountain, said, "We cannot continue to be the party of old white men. We have to broaden our base."

He said some groups currently "don't feel welcome (in the GOP) for whatever reason. We have to let them know that we care about them."

The speaker said one effort the party is making is improving its data center. He said a list of potential voters supplied by the national party had about 50 percent invalid numbers. He said it was discouraging to volunteers to get so many wrong numbers. He said he is working to improve the validity of the numbers to at least 80 percent.

He praised Rep. Mike Carter, who was at the meeting, as a rising star in the Legislature.

He said another attendee, former Rep. Bobby Wood, is "my go-to-guy on the state executive committee."

Mr. Devaney heralded achievements by the Republican-dominant Legislature and said, "We need to continue to work on the judiciary and at the local level."

He praised Larry Grohn for his City Council win, saying, "It is a big deal to beat Jack Benson."