So, the Republican primaries are in full swing now, and may be close to settling on Romney as the big winner. The first two states to vote, as always, were Iowa and New Hampshire. One of the most common arguments made against IA and NH going first is that both states are overwhelmingly White, and thus not representative of the broader public.

I understand this argument for the Democratic primary, but I wonder, does it actually matter in the Republican primary? By that I mean, are there any other states in which Republican primary voters show substantial racial diversity? So far, my quick searches have been completely unable to find information on Republican primary voters by race. Does anyone know where to find this information, or even if any of the pollsters track it? My guess is that in all 50 states, Republican primary voters are overwhelmingly white, though one or two states may have a sizable Republican Latino minority (and perhaps Hawaii has a sizable Asian minority?).

If it’s true that Republican primary voters are overwhelmingly white across the country, it undercuts one of the strongest arguments against IA and NH. That’s not to say that they should be first, but just that one of the ways in which they are most unrepresentative of the country as a whole may not actually be unrepresentative of the Republican base.