GOP down-ballot group pledges $6M to help field 200 diverse candidates

WASHINGTON, May 30 (UPI) -- Republican activists said they have committed $6 million to find 200 diverse candidates and elect 75 new office-holders in the 2013-2014 U.S. election cycle.

"The Republican Party should better reflect the full diversity of our nation and the Future Majority Project is a key tool in recruiting, training and supporting new candidates who bring much needed voices to the table," Republican State Leadership Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie, a former National Republican Committee chairman, said in a release.

The committee's Future Majority Project hopes to double its goals from the last election cycle, he said.

"Our party," Gillespie said, "and more importantly our states and our nation, will work better when we can bring everyone to the table to solve problems."

The Republican State Leadership Committee describes itself as the largest caucus of Republican state leaders and the only national organization whose mission is to elect down-ballot, state-level Republican officeholders.