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The Republican Party must nearly double its share of the non-white vote to win the White House in 2016, an adviser to likely candidate Marco Rubio said Tuesday.

At a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, longtime GOP pollster Whit Ayres said victory in the general election would require the partys nominee to win 30% of the non-white vote compared to the 17% Mitt Romney won in 2012.

The nominee would also have to carry the same percentage of the white vote Mr. Romney captured 59%. To attain 30% of non-white support, the Republican would have to win almost a majority of the Hispanic vote, Mr. Ayres added. In recent cycles, partys support among Hispanic voters peaked in 2004 at 40% for President George W. Bush.

If the Republican nominee fails to improve on Mr. Romneys standing among non-whites, he or she would need to win 65% of the white votea level reached only once, by Ronald Reagan in his re-election bid in 1984, Mr. Ayres said.

The challenge for Republicans is that the percentage of the electorate made up of white voters has declined consistently in every presidential election since 1996, Mr. Ayres said. That renders insufficient the formula Mr. Bush used to win re-election in 2004 58% of the white vote plus 26% of non-whites.

Republican presidential hopefuls have already begun making overtures to Hispanic voters.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a fluent Spanish speaker, earlier this year released a video discussing his potential campaign in both English and Spanish.Mr. Bush, who is open to allowing illegal immigrants a path to citizenship,has defended his stance on immigration against criticism from others in his party.

The Cuban-American Mr. Rubio also fluent in Spanish would be the first Hispanic president,though since his push for a Senate bill overhauling the immigration system failed in 2013 he has walked back his support for such a change.

Still, Republicans face steep odds in winning over Hispanic voters, nearly three-quarters of whom in 2012 cast ballots for President Barack Obama.

Hillary Clinton, the presumed frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in 2016, has also been making efforts to secure her partys hold on the Hispanic vote, including tapping Hispanics for important campaign roles.

Original post:
Pollster: GOP Must Nearly Double Share of Non-White Vote to Win White House