Seven months after a report described the Republican Party’s image as “old and detached from pop culture,†it has hired Elliott Echols, 23, to serve as its first national youth director.
Mr. Echols will spearhead the Republican National Committee’s efforts to win over voters under 30, who broke overwhelmingly for President Obama and Democrats in the 2008 and 2012 elections. This involves building “a grassroots infrastructure with the under-30 community†in partnership with campus-based groups and state parties, according to an announcement on Thursday.
“One of my biggest goals is to bring young, energized people to the G.O.P.,†Mr. Echols said in a statement provided by the Republican National Committee. “There are a lot of young people who are eager to make a change, but they can’t change anything if they’re not a part of the process. My job is to get them more involved in the political process and to help them direct that eagerness to make a change into something tangible.â€
Mr. Echols is part of a string of recent hires amid the R.N.C.’s rehabilitation efforts following the 2012 elections. Acknowledging the Obama campaign’s superior grasp of technology and data, the party announced it had hired Andy Barkett, formerly of Facebook, to serve as its chief technology officer.
Among its recommendations, the “Growth and Opportunity†report released in March also called for the creation of a “youth liaison†to help create a youth-engagement model for the G.O.P. similar to the Obama campaign’s strategy in the past two elections.
Raffi Williams, the R.N.C. spokesman for youth media, said Mr. Echols was chosen because of his organizing and recruitment experience with College Republican groups.
Mr. Echols was active in Republican politics at Berry College in Georgia, where he graduated last year with a degree in economics, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was the state chairman of the Georgia Association of College Republicans until April 2012, and he served as the southeastern regional director for the College Republican National Committee for six months through the November elections.
“What we wanted was somebody who knows the College Republicans well and who also has experience, and Elliott fit perfectly into all those categories,†Mr. Williams said.
Instead of having young Republicans concentrating on voters in deep red suburbs, Mr. Williams said, “What we want to do now is to have them focus on their peers and to have them talking about politics and sharing things on social media and becoming more voices for the Republican party.â€
But hours after his announcement, the man who would be in charge of growing Republican support among the voting bloc most active on social media had fewer than 600 followers on Twitter.
Mr. Williams said that number did not represent what Mr. Echols could do.
“I think that he brings a lot of tools and expertise that would be very valuable at reaching out and bringing other Republicans into the fold,†he said. “I don’t think the amount of followers he has is a measure of his ability to do that.â€
Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman, called the hiring groundbreaking. He said Mr. Echols would be laying groundwork for the G.O.P. to draw young voters in the 2014 elections and beyond.
“Young Americans are independent-minded people who are concerned about getting our nation’s economy back on track, and I look forward to getting their input on how we move forward as a country and as a party,†Mr. Priebus said.
Recent polls have shown young voters, who make up a fifth of the electorate, expressing stronger approval for Democrats than Republicans â€" and higher disapproval for Republicans than Democrats â€" after the 16-day government shutdown this month.
