Breakout Republicans

Politics | The GOP tries to make inroads with Hispanics, the nation’s largest minority group and one way too big for a highchair | Clint Rainey

One GOP fundraising cocktail party in Texas earlier this year displayed a familiar scene: glasses of merlot tipped as a state official rose to introduce a candidate for state representative. But here's what was different: The official, Texas railroad commissioner Victor Carrillo, son of an immigrant from Mexico, was introducing candidate Alex Castano, son of an immigrant from Argentina, and calling him "the future" of the Republican Party.

The future? Mr. Castano has all the makings of a great Republican politician: He is a personable conservative with strong Christian faith, entrepreneurial acumen, and seven children. But he's the future because the number of Hispanics, who at 40 million comprise the largest minority group in the United States, has increased by more than 50 percent every decade since the middle of the 20th century. The American political game for decades has been black and white, but the entrance of this third player is changing the way everyone plays.